How to Make 

Creamery Butter 

on the Farm 



McLaughlin 




Class O / ^' ^> < !/ 
Book. // ; 6 J " 

C^JNU^kW / / / j > 

COPyRIGHT DEPOSm 



Expert 
Butter- 
Makers 




Mrs. W. J. McLaughlin 



Directors of the 
Butter-Making Service 
Department of the 
minnetonna company 



W. J. McLaughlin 



How to Make 

Creamery Butter 

on the Farm 

by 

Mr. and Mrs. 
Wm. J. McLaughlin 



This book belongs in your 
working library 

It will prove itself one of the most valuable 

books you ever had, if studied carefully, 

referred to often and followed closely 

in its instructions. This book and 

the Minnetonna Home Creamery 

enable you to apply to home 

buttermaking the scientific 

principles and processes 

that are used in the most 

modern creameries 



^^.; 






^ 



Copyrijht. 1915 
by 

The Minnetonna Company 



10 !3tc- 



r 

THE LAKELAND PRESS 
MINNEAPOLIS. MINN.. U.S. A 



^C|.A401334 



^ 



To the farmer that it may help him 
increase his income from the dairy 
department of his business and — 

To the farmer's wife or daughter that 
it may lessen her labor and increase her 
efficiency as a buttermaker, this book is 
respectfully dedicated. 



Table of Contents 

Chapter I. Why It Pays to Make Your Cream 

Into Butter on the Farm 9 

Chapter II. The Essential Things in Making 

Good Butter 16 

Chapter III. HandHng the Milk and Cream.... 19 

Chapter IV. Separating the Cream 23 

Chapter V. The Babcock Test 27 

Chapter VI. Ripening the Cream 34 

Chapter VII. Testing Cream for Acidity 2)7 

Chapter VIII. Starters . . . .- 42 

Chapter IX. Butter Color 47 

Chapter X. Churning 49 

Chapter XI. Washing, Working, Salting, Pack- 
ing 53 

Chapter XII. Buttermaking Troubles and Their 

Causes 59 

Chapter XIII. The Care and Operation of the Min- 

netonna Home Creamery 62 

Chapter XIV. How to Make Cottage Cheese 67 

Chapter XV. Managing the Dairy Herd to Pro- 
duce the Largest and Richest Milk 
Yields 69 

Chapter XVI. A Plan That Adds $13 to $24 to 
Your Profits From Each Cow Each 
Year 88 



Preface 

IT HAS taken a long time for some branches of 
human activity to come under the regenerating 
influence pf science. But once she takes hold of 
a proposition, science works rapidly — and the cruder 
and more primitive the subject she studies, the more 
rapidly she works and the more wonderful are the 
improvements she makes. 

It is remarkable indeed, and regrettable, that so vital 
a human activity as farming, an industry upon which 
the very existence of the human race depends, should 
have been so long in coming out of the darkness of 
primitive ideas and ideals and coming into the light of 
modern science. It was only within the last half cen- 
tury that a real beginning was made in the science of 
agriculture — and the real progress in better farming 
methods has been made in the last quarter century. 

Buttermaking, logically a farm activity, began to 
benefit by the application of scientific principles only 
within the last twenty years or so. You need only 
compare the efficiency and rapidity of the buttermak- 
ing equipment in the modern creamery to the slow 
and laborious old fashioned farm churn to realize what 
science has done in the art of buttermaking. A com- 
parison of the quality of butter produced by the two 
methods also makes a strong case for the modern way 
of making butter. 

But the farmer has not profited as he should by the 
wonderful improvements in the method of buttermak- 
ing. The rapid development of scientific principles in 
this industry has been limited to a type of machine 
too large and too expensive for the individual farm 
use. The farmer was left with an inefficient barrel 
churn that gave him but little chance to apply scien- 
tific principles and processes to buttermaking even if 
he was familiar with them. 



6 How to Make Creamery Butter on the Farm 

True, the perfection of these large, efficient butter- 
making outfits has made possible the establishment of 
centralizers and creameries to which farmers can send 
their cream to be made into butter and share in the 
proceeds. But the big expenses of running such large 
butter factories have to be paid out of the proceeds 
from the sale of the butter, whether the plant is a pri- 
vate enterprise or a co-operative one. We have man- 
aged such creameries and we know how much it costs 
to run one. We know that this cost takes a big 
chunk out of the income the farmer should get from 
his dairy herd, and could get if he could buy a scien- 
tific buttermaking machine suitable to his needs and 
to his pocketbook and could acquire the knowledge of 
the methods that would enable him to make butter of 
the highest quality in that machine. 

The Minnetonna Company has solved the first 
problem — they have furnished the machine. We have 
attempted to supply, in this book, the second req- 
uisite — the "know how." We have endeavored to 
put into plain, practical, easy-to-follow directions, the 
essential scientific buttermaking knowledge that we 
have acquired in our quarter-century experience as 
buttermakers and dairy experts. 

If this book helps any of the farmers who receive it 
to increase their net cash income from their cows by 
enabling them to make their cream into high-grade 
butter at home, or shows farmers who are already 
making butter how to make better and more profitable 
butter, with less labor, or encourages farmers who 
have a few or no cows to open up an entirely new 
source of income by starting a neighborhood cream- 
ery, we shall feel amply repaid for the time and labor 
spent in preparing this volume. 

We shall also be glad to have any reader ask us for 
further explanation of any part that is not perfectly 
clear, or to ask us for help in solving any buttermak- 

^ ^ * The Authors. 



The McLaughlins— Buttermakers 

MR. McLaughlin was bom and raised on 
a farm. Early in life he took an interest in 
dairying. He studied breeding and feeding 
and their relation to milk and butterfat production. 
His interest in these subjects soon led to an interest 
in buttermaking and cheesemaking because it soon be- 
comes evident to the farmer who gives any thought 
and study to his business that the most profit can be 
made from his cows by selling their milk as a finished 
product — butter or cheese — instead of in the raw state 
— milk or cream. 

Mr. McLaughlin has been engaged in the manufac- 
ture of butter, cheese and condensed milk for over 24 
years. He originated the first exhaust pasteurizer 
heater, and also the first salt test used in Minnesota. 

Mrs. McLaughlin took a keen interest in Mr. Mc- 
Laughlin's work from the very day of her marriage ; in 
fact, being a country girl, she had been making but- 
ter for some time on her father's farm and liked the 
work. For over twelve years she has been as active 
as Mr. McLaughlin in the buttermaking business. For 
many years Mr. and Mrs. McLaughlin were joint man- 
agers of the Elgin Co-operative Creamery at Elgin, 
Minn. They have both attended the Dairy School at 
the University of Minnesota and are in great demand 
as speakers at buttermakers' conventions, Farmers' 
clubs, etc. 

It has always been Mrs. McLaughlin's contention 
that better butter could be made in the home dairy 

7 



The McLau Miiis — Buttermakers 



than in a big creamery. She has proven this time and 
time again and gives the reason why this is so in the 
chapter ''Why it pays to Make Cream into Butter 
on the Farm." 

Prizes and High Scores Made by 

Mr. and Mrs. W. J. McLaughlin. 

SCORE 
First — Minnesota Dairyman and Livestock Association, 

Northfield, Minn., Jan. 21, 1912 95 

Second — Minnesota State Fair, Hamline, Minn., Sept., 

1912 95 

Third — North Iowa Fair, Mason City, Iowa, Sept. 18, 

1912 96.50 

First — Six months' Scoring Contests, St. Paul, Minn., 

June 12, 1913 95 

Second — Interstate Scoring Contests, Mason City, Iowa, 

Sept. 18, 1913 95 

First — Minnesota Buttermakers' Annual Convention, 

2nd District, Wadena, Minn., Dec. 12, 1913 93.33 

First — Wisconsin State Fair, Milwaukee, Wis. (Over all 

classes in complimentary Scores) 95.63 

National Creamery Buttermakers' Association, Chicago, 

Nov. 1, 1911 95 

National Buttermakers' Association, Chicago, Oct. 29, 

1912 95.16 

International Dairy Show, Milwaukee, Wis., Oct. 30, 

1911 94.86 

International Dairy Show, Milwaukee, Wis., Oct. 30, 

1912 96 

National, International, Interstate and State Contests 

for year 1913 94.85 

(The highest over any buttermaker in the United States 

making butter from hand separated cream.) 

Third— Interstate Fair, Oct., 1912 96.50 

North Iowa Fair, 1911 94.50 

North Iowa Fair, 1911 94.33 

Minnesota Butter and Cheesemakers' Association 93 

Minnesota Butter and Cheesemakers' Association 93.75 

Iowa Fair, Mason City, Iowa, 1912 95 

International Dairy Show 1912 93.66 

National Dairy Show 94.50 

First— Second District at State Fair, 1912 95 

Second— Wadena 93.50 



CHAPTER I. 

Why it Pays to Make Your Cream 
Into Butter on the Farm 

THERE are at least three different sources of 
extra profit opened up to you when you make 
your cream into butter at home by the Minne- 
tonna method. 

1. The difference between butter-fat in cream 
prices and high-grade butter prices; the "over-run" 
alone in butter-making makes this difference at least 
25%, as explained in Chapter X. 

2. The buttermilk that you are enabled to keep is 
worth many dollars to you as a feed for hogs, if you 
do not sell it. 

3. The saving in the expense of hauling your milk 
or cream to the station or creamery. Many farmers 
have figured that this hauling costs them $1.00 to 
$2.00 a day. 

The "Over-run." 

The "over-run" in butter-making is fully explained 
in Chapter X. Good butter should contain 20% of 
ingredients other than pure butter-fat, such as mois- 
ture, salt, etc. These items are necessary to the flavor 
and keeping quality of the butter, but they cost you 
practically nothing. Yet you get butter prices for 
them. Eighty pounds of butter-fat makes 100 pounds 

9 



10 How to Make Creamery Butter on the Farm 

of butter. Sell your cream and you get paid only for 
80 pounds. Make good butter and sell it and get paid 
for 100 pounds, or 25% more, besides getting more per 
pound. 

The Buttermilk. 

The extra money that you can pocket for your but- 
termilk will amount to a snug little sum in the course 
of a year. Several of our friends have written us that 
they can easily sell their buttermilk at 3c to 4c a quart, 
sometimes more. This fact at least proves the value 
of the buttermilk that you are throwing away when 
you sell your cream. Even if you do not sell it as 
buttermilk, you can sell it for even more as hog meat. 
We need not discuss the merits of buttermilk as a 
feed for hogs — they are self-evident. 

You Save the Cost of Hauling Cream. 

Perhaps you don't realize how large an item is the 
expense of hauling the cream to the creamery or ship- 
ping station. You know that your time and labor are 
worth money — so much per hour. The time that you 
or your help spend on unnecessary things means just 
so much lost money= It is not necessary to make 
nearly so many trips to town when you are manufac- 
turing butter at home and shipping the finished prod- 
uct instead of the raw material. If you will figure up 
the cost of each trip to town with your wagon, we 
believe that you'll find, as many other farmers have, 
that it is somewhere between $1.00 and $2.00 per trip 
— maybe more if your farm is far out. If you are mak- 
ing and shipping butter you need make only one-half 
to one-fourth as many trips as you do with milk or 
cream. It is easy to calculate your savings in hauling 



Why It Pays to Make Butter on the Farm 11 

expenses for a year, and we daresay that the figure 
will open your eyes. 

You Pocket Middleman's Profit. 

You know that there is really something to this idea 
about selling direct from the producer to the con- 
sumer, cutting out the middleman's rakeoff. In a 
great many lines it has meant a great deal to both the 
producer and the consumer — in the farming business 
perhaps more than any other. Why not carry the 
idea to the dairy end of your business, make your 
butter at home and ship direct to the consumer or 
retail distributer and get a price that includes the cost 
of manufacturing in the creamery or centralizer, the 
commission man's profit, the wholesaler's profit, and 
something of the carrying profit by railroad or ex- 
press? Add up these various profits and you have a 
pretty neat sum, often from 5c to 10c on each pound. 

You Pocket Creamery Manufacturing Costs. 

The manufacturing costs in a big creamery, whether 
it is a co-operative creamery or a centralizer, is an- 
other very important consideration. Take the co-op- 
erative creamery for instance. You get more money 
for your cream in that enterprise than you do from 
the city centralizers or commission men. But look at 
what it costs to run the creamery — the salary of a but- 
termaker, the interest and depreciation on an invest- 
ment of about $5,000 worth of building and machinery, 
a high rate of insurance, power and upkeep, etc. Out 
of your cream check has to come your proportion of 
the sum total of these expenses. 



12 How to Make Creamery Butter on the Farm 

Get Premium Prices for Butter. 

Now there is still another very interesting feature 
about this home buttermaking business. The minute 
you start making your cream into good clean butter 
right on your farm, you at once enjoy a big compet- 
ing advantage over the big creamery or centralizer. 
That advantage of yours comes from this fact : 

All sorts of cream goes to the creamery or cen- 
tralizer, some good, some not so good, some not even 
clean. It all goes into one vat. The poor cream pulls 
down the quality of the whole batch and the butter 
turned out is not as good as it might be. Yet every 
farmer is paid the same price for the butterfat con- 
tent of his cream. If you have pure, clean, sweet 
cream, you get no more for it than the fellow whose 
cream is not so good. 

But look here. With that pure, sweet cream of 
yours you can easily make the highest grade butter at 
home by the Minnetonna method. For such butter 
you can get the top market prices and even more. 
Many Minnetonna Home creamery owners write that 
they get from 2c to 10c a pound more than regular 
market prices for their butter. 

Good "Dairy Butter" Preferred. 

As a matter of fact, many folks prefer "dairy" or 
home creamery butter, when it is made right and un- 
der sanitary conditions. We make this statement only 
after thorough investigation. You may happen to 
know some people who shake their heads when you 
mention dairy butter, but that's because they've had 
experience with the wrong kind. If you were making 
Minnetonna Home Creamery butter by our practical 



Why It Pays to Make Butter on the Farm 13 

methods, you would only have to let them sample it 
to change their notions. They'd be pleasantly sur- 
prised. 

Another thing we discovered in our investigation — 
one of the reasons why good dairy butter brings 
higher prices : Quite a number of women have the 
idea that 'Mairy" or home creamery butter lasts longer 
— goes further on the table, especially when it is put 
up in jars. 

Big Market for Quality Butter. 

There is always good market for highest quality 
butter, the kind made by the Minnetonna method. 
Most of our customers soon find that they can sell 
more than they can make in their own neighborhood 
or at the stores in nearby towns. Besides, there are 
markets in all good sized towns and cities, many of 
which are easily reached from your place by parcel 
post or express. You can get in touch with the con- 
sumers through the post office, express companies or 
small ads inserted in city newspapers. We will help 
you in finding buyers for your butter so you need not 
worry on that score. There is so little of the real Al 
butter to be had that it quickly finds a market at the 
highest market quotations or better. 

Why the Old Time Farm Churn Fails. 

A letter from the Potter Casey Co., of Aitkin, Minn., 
after telling how a farmer increased his net cash in- 
come 30% by making his cream into butter by the 
Minnetonna method reads as follows : 

''Yes" some one says, ''before the creamery came in 
we used to make butter and it was always hard to 
sell. The stores didn't care whether they took it or 
not and they would never pay what it was worth." 



14 How to Make Creamery Butter on the Farm 

"The same kind of butter still comes to the store. 
Over-salted, underworked, worked too much, oily — 
people won't buy it to eat, so we pack it in tubs and 
send it to the renovating factory." 

Making good butter with an ordinary churn is a 
fine art known to only a few people, and they get the 
top price for all they can make. The market for good 
butter is as steady as the market for cream. 

With the Minnetonna Home Creamery and Minne- 
tonna Methods, anyone can make creamei*y butter, 
and save that 30% which he is losing now. 

If You Have Only a Few Cows, 

there are two plans by which you can not only get 
more money for the little cream you now handle, but 
also open up an entirely new source of income. 

One plan is to buy your neighbors' cream and make 
it into butter together with your own cream. Many 
owners of Minnetonnas are adding tidy sums to their 
income in this way. 

Paul Whitebread of Wapwallopen, Pa., writes that 
he can pay his neighbors higher prices for their cream 
than the co-operative creameries and still make a good 
profit on it. Why? 

There are at least three reasons, the same three rea- 
sons that enable you to make more profit on your 
cream by making it into butter at home, as already 
given. 

You surely would have little trouble buying your 
neighbors' cream, especially if you offered them a lit- 
tle more than the creamery or cream buyers. You can 
also show them how they save time, trouble and labor 
costs in hauling their cream, when they sell to you. 



Why It Pays to Make Butter on the Farm 15 

Neighborhood Creamery. 

Another way to make the Minnetonna profitable to 
you, no matter how little cream you have to sell, is to 
start a neighborhood or community creamery, run- 
ning it on the same plan that the large co-operative 
creameries are run. Get your neighbors to join you in 
sharing the costs, interest and depreciation on a Min- 
netonna Home Creamery. Suggest that you or who- 
ever operates the machine be paid for their time and 
labor, the same as a co-operative creamery pays a sal- 
ary to its buttermaker. Then each member will be 
paid his share from the sale of the butter according to 
the amount of cream he has brought in. If you do 
not clearly understand this plan on which co-operative 
creameries are managed, we shall be glad to explain 
it further. 

The neighborhood creamery idea seems to be 
spreading all over the country. It has been mentioned 
again and again in letters that come to our office. 
Here, for instance, is an extract from a letter signed 
by the dairy husbandman in the employ of the U. S. 
Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Animal Hus- 
bandry, at Auburn, Alabama. 

*'We have five small creameries in Alabama and a 
number of localities that wish to have a centrally lo- 
cated farmer buy a small engine and churn and churn 
the cream for the neighborhood. For this purpose I 
think your outfit would be very well suited." 

The expenses of a small neighborhood creamery are 
much less than those of a large creamery, even in pro- 
portion to the amount of cream and butter handled. 
The profits to the members of such a community 
creamery are much larger. 



CHAPTER II. 

The Essential Things in Making 
Good Butter 

THE making of high-grade butter — the kind of 
butter that gets premium prices — begins at 
the cow, the source of the raw material from 
which the butter is manufactured. 

The way a cow is fed and cared for makes a very 
noticeable and important effect upon the flavor of her 
milk, as well as upon its quantity and richness in but- 
terfat. The flavor of butter depends upon the flavor 
of cream from which it is made. Flavor is the most 
important item in judging butter, and determines more 
than anything else how much you get for your product. 

In Chapter XIV you will find some very interesting 
and very valuable information about the care and feed- 
ing of cows. Don't fail to read that chapter. 

The next step in good buttermaking is the handling 
of the milk and the cream after it is separated. Many 
things can happen to the milk from the time it leaves 
the cows until it is made into butter, that greatly af- 
fect its flavor, cleanliness or quality. In Chapter III 
are given some pointers on the selection and care of 
milk or cream intended for buttermaking. 

Separating the cream from the milk and the opera- 
tion of separators have a relation to scientific butter- 

16 




No. jA Minnctonna Home Creamery. Churning ca- 
pacity, zvith barrel half full, 12 gallons. JVorking ca- 
pacity, J to 2f) pounds. Has pozver attacJiment for belting 
to your gasoline engine. 



->ii%. 



II ■ 




No. 2C Minnctonna Home Creamery, with part of side 
and one end eiit azvay to shozu the position of shelf and 
working roll inside of ALL Minnetonnas. C/iiirning 
capacity (barrel half full J, 22 gallons. Working capacity, 
5 to ^o pounds. 

The wide range of zvorking capacities in the Minncton- 
na Home Creamery is made possible by the adjustable 
shelf feature as explained on page j8. 



The Essential Things in Making Good Butter 17 

making that warrants a chapter on these subjects. 
You may discover in Chapter IV some facts about sep- 
arating that you do not know or may have overlooked 
or forgotten. 

It's a good thing to know the percentage of butter- 
fat in your milk or cream. Such knowledge will give 
you a basis for figuring the comparative value of the 
different feeds and rations you give your cows, show- 
ing which produce the richest milk. You will also 
be able to ascertain, how much, if any, butterfat you 
are losing in the churning, and why. The Babcock 
test, the recognized standard test for finding the per 
cent of butterfat in cream or milk, is fully explained 
in Chapter V. 

Almost as important as the improved processes of 
churning and working butter are the modern scientific 
methods of preparing the cream for the churning — 
"ripening" or souring, ''starting," getting the right de- 
gree of acidity, finding the best temperature at which 
to churn, etc. These things determine how much or 
how little butterfat you lose in the churning and to 
some considerable extent influence the grain and 
flavor of the butter. The most successful scientific 
methods of "ripening," testing, "starting," etc., are 
fully and clearly described in Chapters VI, VII, and 
VIII. 

Butter color has much to do with butter prices. It 
is dealt with in Chapter IX. 

In the churning process of buttermaking there is 
also another chance to lose a large chunk of your but- 
terfat — and your profit — if you use old time, unscien- 
tific, laborious methods. Science has shown how to 
prevent this loss, as well as how to do away with most 



18 How to Make Creamery Butter on the Farm 

of the drudgery and waste of time connected with 
butermaking as our mothers and grandmothers did it. 
The new way in buttermaking is interestingly dealt 
with in Chapter X. 

The last few operations in good buttermaking — 
washing, working, incorporating moisture and salt, 
are by no means so unimportant that they deserve 
anything less than the most careful attention. A 
''slip-up" here may spoil the otherwise fine batch of 
butter. Don't skim over Chapter XI. Study it care- 
fully. 

Some valuable pointers on putting your butter up 
in the most marketable forms are also given in 
Chapter XII. 

In concluding this work we could hardly find a more 
appropriate subject than a principle that is recognized 
and given careful consideration in all well-managed 
and successful manufacturing enterprises — the care of 
the tools or machinery with which we work. Any kind 
of machinery, no matter how good it is, how correct 
in working principle, how carefully and strongly 
built, requires some care if you expect to get the best 
results from its operation and long reliable service. 
Chapter XIII is worth reading. 



CHAPTER III. 

The Handling of the Milk and Cream 

How Quality of Butter Is Judged. 

TO FULLY appreciate the importance of great 
care in handling the milk from the time it 
leaves the cow until it is put in the churn, 
and to understand why many of the buttermaker's 
troubles are traceable to things that happen to the 
milk or cream, it is first necessary to understand how 
butter is graded, what determines the price you get 
for it. 

With the butter trade — that is, butter buyers, whole- 
salers and retailers — butter is graded as follows : 

''Specials," the very best; "Extras," "Firsts" and 
"Seconds" in the order named. There is a wide varia- 
tion in the prices between "Specials" and "Seconds." 
There is always a good market for "specials" whereas 
the lower grades are a drug on the market most of the 
time. 

In judging butter, especially in prize competitions, 
the following division of points is made : 

Flavor 45 

Body or grain 25 

Color 15 

Salt 10 

Package 5 

The flavor is given nearly one-half the total score, 
indicating it is the most important factor in determin- 

19 



20 How to Make Creamery Butter on the Farm 

ing the market value of the butter. Perfect flavor is 
difficult to describe, but well known to the majority 
of butter consumers. 

The grain and color of the butter are governed 
mostly by the churning and working processes, and 
will be considered in the chapters on those subjects. 

The flavor of butter and what affects it will have our 
attention here. Important as flavor is considered 
among butter traders and prize contest judges, it is 
even more important to the consumer, the people who 
eventually buy and eat the product. In fact, flavor is 
almost the sole consideration by which most consum- 
ers judge butter. If the flavor of your butter is "off" 
the people won't buy it. 

The two things that have more to do with flavor of 
butter than anything else are the feed and care of cows, 
and the manner in which the milk and cream are 
handled before churning. 

The Flavor From Certain Feeds, 

such as turnips, beets, etc., can be eliminated if the 
cows are fed right after milking time. This is a fact 
generally understood by farmers and dairymen. 
Rancid flavor from feeding rape can only be overcome 
by discontinuing such feed. Rape is so strong and 
pronounced in flavor that it is impossible to make 
good butter when it is used as feed for your milk 
cows. 

Silage Flavor. — A very common trouble, especially 
in the winter months when cows are fed large quan- 
tities of silage in poorly ventilated barns. It is caused 
not by the silage as a feed but by letting the milk or 



The Handling of the Milk and Cream 21 

the cream stand in barns until it takes this taint. It 
is impossible to feed silage through a cow's system to 
produce this defect in milk and cream. If the milk 
and cream is taken from the barn immediately when 
drawn from the cows there will be no trouble from 
this source. 

The feeding, breeding and care of cows is considered 
at length in Chapter XII, especially in reference to 
quantity of milk produced and its butterfat content. 
Cleanliness is the most important thing to remember 
in the care of cows. It has a direct effect on the flavor 
of the butter produced from their milk. Sanitation is 
the first law of good buttermaking. It is absolutely 
necessary to success in the buttermaking business. 

The chief cause of undesirable flavors in butter is 
the exposure of the milk to strong odors and dirt and 
the failure to keep cream cool and sweet until it is 
ripened for buttermaking. 

One of the best means of insuring the true butter 
flavor is proper care of the stable. 

The proper and regular cleaning of the cows is ex- 
tremely important. 

On some farms the cream separator never leaves the 
barn from one year's end to the other. You know 
the stable was never built which did not have a smell 
in it. Just remember that milk will absorb odors 
quicker than anything else. If milk is left standing in 
the bam or is separated in the barn it is going to taste 
"cowy." If the milk tastes bad the butter will taste 
bad also. Do your separating in the milk house. 

If this is not convenient some cans can be set out- 
side the barn door to empty the milk into. But keep 



22 How to Make Creamery Butter on the Farm 

them covered. If possible send pail and all to the sep- 
arator just as soon as you get through milking. 

Barn Taint. — This is caused by keeping cows in 
crowded, unsanitary, poorly ventilated and poorly 
lighted stables, or by leaving milk and cream in barns, 
or by leaving hand separators in barn or allowing 
dust to drop in milk when milking. When milk is 
cooling in a place where odors exist and the tempera- 
ture of the milk cools below the temperature of the 
air, the oxygen of the air enters into the milk and 
cream, carrying odors that are in the air. This is one 
of the main causes of barn flavor. 

Metallic Flavor is caused by keeping milk or cream 
in old rusty cans, ripening cream in vats not properly 
tinned, using poorly tinned starter cans or using any- 
thing where the milk comes in contact with metal 
when sour. Ripening cream to .8% acid also causes 
metallic flavor. 



CHAPTER IV. 

Separating the Cream 

SEPARATE your milk just as soon after milking 
as possible. Separating should be done while 
the milk is warm if you want to get all the 
butterfat possible. It has been proven that butterfat 
separates best when it is at a temperature of 90 de- 
grees Fahrenheit. Before separating, the milk should 
be strained through a reliable wire strainer, so that if 
any hairs or dirt have gotten into it they will not get 
into the separator. (We recommend the Ekvall San- 
itary Milk Strainer. It is the most efficient strainer 
we have ever seen. You can buy it from the Minne- 
tonna Co.) 

After it is separated, the cream should be put into a 
long narrow can, stirred so as to aerate it and drive 
off the animal heat, cooled down to about 50 degrees 
Fahrenheit and held there until you have cream enough 
for churning. Do not put cover on the can until the 
cream is well aerated and cooled and do not hold it 
over 2^ or 3 days (2 days is better). 

Never Mix Warm and Cold Cream. — If you do it 
will sour or ripen before you want it to do so. By 
using two cans, you can use one for the morning 
cream and by evening it will be cooled so you can 
turn it in with the previous day's cream and have the 

23 



24 How to Make Creamery Butter on the Farm 

empty can to put the warm cream in. There is no 
need of mixing warm and cold cream as is the general 
practice. 

Smothered Cream is caused by putting a tight cover 
on can and not allowing the animal heat to pass off. 
When the milk is drawn from the cow the temperature 
is 98 degrees and it should be cooled, allowing the 
animal heat to escape. This smothering of cream 
produces a rancid smell and is very detrimental to 
good buttermaking. 

Operating the Separator. 

The variation of the speed of a cream separator has 
a great deal to do with the enormous losses of butter- 
fat that have cost dairymen hundreds of thousands of 
dollars each year. Increasing the speed of a separator 
two turns increases the velocity or pressure of the 
bowl 4 times ; that is to say, -when increasing the speed 
on handle 2 revolutions, above 45 RPM for example, 
we increase the skimming velocity 4 times. And 
should we increase the handle velocity to 60 RPM, 
the pressure or velocity of the bowl would be 30 times 
greater at 60 RPM than at 45 RPM. This one thing 
causes the great variation in cream tests, also the 
great losses that occur by not turning the hand sep- 
arator at its proper speed. 

Speed Indicator. — Every cream separator should be 
equipped with one of these devices. They are inex- 
pensive and save their first cost many times in amount 
of butterfat saved by turning the machine at proper 
speed, especially when more than one person turns 
the separator. 



Separating the Cream 25 

Condition of Milk While Separating. — When cows 
are long in lactation (old milk cows) and are fed on 
dry feed, the whole milk is much harder to separate, 
and it is necessary to be careful in the operating of the 
separator under these conditions. 

There is not a cream separator manufactured today 
that will skim milk at a low temperature and do good, 
clean skimming with old milk. Great butterfat losses 
are bound to occur in any separator. All separators 
do better work when the temperatures are 85 and 
above. 

Foundation for Separator. — A cream separator bowl 
is the most delicate, highest speed machine made to- 
day and it requires great care and should have a good 
solid foundation and run with steady motion. The 
foundation should be concrete and the separator 
should always be kept level. It should be started slow 
until the full speed is reached — not jerked, and it 
should also be turned full correct speed as long as any 
milk is left in the receiving tank to be skimmed. 

The Care of Your Separator. 

If there is one part of the dairy more than another 
where cleanliness is an absolute necessity, it is the 
cream separator. There are some who think that once 
a day is often enough to wash a separator bowl — 
others only do it twice or three times a week. That is 
a big mistake. 

A Separator Bowl Must Be Thoroughly Cleaned 
After Every Skimming. — If it isn't, old particles of 
butterfat, or particles of impurities full of harmful 
germs will affect or ruin your next batch of cream or 



26 How to Make Creamery Butter on the Farm 

milk. You can't make first grade butter with tainted, 
unsanitary butterfat. You can't get pure butterfat if 
your separator is not freshly cleaned. Besides there 
is a heavy loss in skimming, as no separator will do 
as good work when not clean. 

Here are a few rules that must be followed to get 
best cream separator results. 

1. Be sure your separator bowl is thoroughly 
washed after each skimming. 

2. Be sure your separator is well oiled. 

3. Be sure the speed of your separator is always 
even, and exactly as specified by the manufacturers. 

4. Be sure your separator is in a dry, clean place, 
nowhere near anything that gives ofif an odor. 

5. Be sure to follow all instructions which accom- 
pany your separator. 



CHAPTER V. 

The Babcock Test 

THE Babcock Test, devised by Prof. S. M. 
Babcock, of the University of Wisconsin, is a 
method for the accurate and rapid determina- 
tion of the per cent of butterfat in milk and milk prod- 
ucts, such as cream, skim milk, buttermilk, cheese, 
etc. 

It shows the number of pounds of butterfat in each 
hundred pounds of milk or cream. 

On account of its accuracy it has been adopted in 
many states as the official method of determining 
butterfat in milk. 

Value of the Babcock Test. — It shows whether or 
not you are losing butterfat in the operation of the sep- 
arator. It enables you to determine how much butter- 
fat, if any, you are losing in churning butter. 

It enables you to figure the per cent of ''over-run." 
(See Chapter XI for explanation of "over-run"). You 
should get about 20% "over-run" to make the most 
profit out of your cream, and make the best grade 
butter. The Babcock test is necessary to know 
whether the proper "over-run" is obtained. 

It gives you a basis for figuring the comparative 
value of the different feeds and rations you feed your 
cows, showing which produce the milk richest in but- 
terfat. 

27 



28 How to Make Creamery Butter on the Farm 




One of the several styles of 
Babcock Testers sold by the 
Minnetonna Company. The 
hand-operated testers are also 
made for 4 bottles. Electric- 
operated testers made for 2 
to 12 bottles. See Dairy Sup- 
ply catalog of the Minnetonna 
Company. 



The most valuable use of the Babcock Test is in 
showing what each cow in your herd is doing in the 
way of butterfat production. With this knowledge 
you can weed out the poor cows and breed the best 
ones to produce even better butterfat producers. The 
value of a Babcock Test outfit to the dairy farmer can- 
not be overestimated. To many farmers it has proven 
itself worth thousands of dollars. 

Assistant Secretary of Agriculture Vrooman esti- 
mates that the American farmer would be $10,000,000 
richer at the end of the year if he took advantage of 
the knowledge at present on tap in the Department of 
Agriculture. That estimate is ridiculously low. The 
owners of the dairy cows alone could make up the 
$10,000,000 without half trying. Ten minutes a day 
spent in the study of economical feeds and rations 
would do the trick. Investment of a few dollars in a 
Babcock Tester would soon cut out enough of the rob- 
bers to give the former cow slave an hour a day for 
studying the problems of profit-getting and home im- 
provement. 



The Bahcock Test 29 



Every Cow Owner Should Have a Babcock Tester. 

If you have never used a Babcock Tester or had 
some one else test your herd, depend upon it you are 
keeping one or more animals at a loss. A test will 
show you some surprising facts; facts that you can- 
not afford to ignore ; facts that mean big money to 
you. 

For example, take three cows, each producing 5,500 
lbs. of milk per year (an average of 20 lbs. per day for 
275 days). Cow No. 1 produces milk containing 3% 
butterfat, No. 2, 4% butterfat, No. 3, 5% butterfat. 
Say butterfat is worth 25 cents per pound, see what 
we get. 

Cow No. 1—3% of 5,500 equals 165 lbs. butter- 
fat at 25c $41.25 

Cow No. 2—4% of 5,500 equals 220 lbs. butter- 
fat at 25c 55.00 

Cow No. 3—5% of 5,500 equals 275 lbs. butter- 
fat at 25c 68.75 

Now supposing it costs $40 to feed and care for each 
cow for one year. On this basis : 

Cow No. 1 makes $1.25 net profit. 
Cow No. 2 makes $15.00 net profit. 
Cow No. 3 makes $28.75 net profit. 

Cow No. 3 is equal to 23 cows like No. 1. 

Can you afford not to own a Babcock Tester? 

A tester is inexpensive in first cost. A small supply 
of an inexpensive chemical is the only expense there- 
after. Anyone can make accurate tests. 



30 How to Make Creamery Butter on the Farm 

To Test Milk. 

Apparatus: 17.6 c.c. pipette, 17.5 c.c. acid measure, 
test bottles, dividers, water bath, centrifuge, sulphuric 
acid (specific gravity 1.83 to 1.84). The milk to be 
tested and the acid used should be brought to a tem- 
perature of about 70 degrees ; this can best be done by 
the use of the hot water bath. 

1. Pour sample of milk to be tested from one vessel 
to another at least five times. 

2. Take pipette between thumb and second and 
third fingers, leaving the index finger free. Draw milk 
into pipette immediately after stirring, and place the 
index finger over the top of the pipette ; now release 
the finger very slightly until top of the milk column 
is even with the mark on the pipette. 

3. Hold milk bottle on a slant and place end of 
pipette in the neck of bottle, leaving an opening for 
air, so that air bubbles cannot form and throw milk 
out of neck, and release finger and allow the milk to 
flow into the bottle, blowing the last drop from the 
pipette. 

4. Fill acid measure to mark (never draw acid into 
pipette), take milk bottle by the neck between thumb 
and fingers of the left hand, so that the bottle can be 
turned; now bring the lip of acid measure to mouth 
of bottle, and pour acid into the bottle, rotating the 
bottle so that all of the milk will be washed from the 
neck into the bottle. Hold the bottle at a slant so that 
the acid will not fall directly on the milk and form 
pieces of charred curd. 

5. Give bottle a rotary motion in order to cause a 
gradual mixing of milk and acid ; sudden mixing will 
cause large amounts of heat and gas and will throw 



The Bahcock Test 31 



the material out of the bottle. (Keep acid away from 
face and eyes.) 

6. After the bottle has been stirred thoroughly and 
the curd is dissolved, place the bottle in centrifuge 
and whirl five minutes. 

7. Place bottles in water bath of 180 degrees F. for 
tive minutes and fill with hot water to neck. 

8. Whirl for two minutes. 

9. Place in water bath for five minutes and fill with 
hot water to within one-half inch of the top of bottle. 

10. Whirl for two minutes. 

11. Place in water bath, 130 degrees F., for five 
minutes. 

12. Measure fat column by placing one point of 
dividers at bottom and the other at the top ; then, 
keeping dividers at that spread, place one point on the 
zero mark and note where the other point falls on the 
scale. That number will correspond to the per cent of 
fat in the milk. 



To Test Cream. 

In testing cream, the samples of cream for testing 
should be weighed instead of being measured. 

Weigh out 18 grams cream in cream bottle on an 
accurate scale tested by State Officials having state 
seal on it. Add sulphuric acid and shake until con- 
tents in bottle are coffee brown (the exact amount of 
acid to use cannot be specified. It must be enough 
to cause cream to turn to a coffee brown color). Place 
in tester, run seven minutes, stop, fill to neck with 
hot water. Place in tester, run two minutes, then 



32 How to Make Creamery Butter on the Farm 

stop. Add water at a temperature of 140 degrees F. 
until fat rises above zero mark. Place in tester, run 
two minutes, stop. Then add a few drops of red 
reader (Emyl alcohol). Then read from bottom of fat 
line to bottom of red reader line or top of fat line. 
Place divider on zero mark and read up. This will 
give you percentage of fat or pounds of fat in 100 
pounds of cream. 



Causes of Defects in Tests. 

Running tester too slow. 
Sour lumpy cream. 
Too much acid. 
Too strong acid. 
Too weak acid. 
Reading test too cold. 
Reading test too hot. 
Not thoroughly mixing 

sample before testing. 
Not taking a proportionate 

sample. 



Cream Teat 
Bottle 



Speed of Babcock Testers, 
Diameter. R. P. M. 

»| 10 inches 1,074 

ij 12 inches 980 

p 14 inches 909 

16 inches 884 

18 inches 800 

20 inches 759 

22 inches 724 

24 inches 650 



The Babcock Test 



33 



Temperatures of Cream. 

Temperatures of Acid and Tempera- 
tures of Cream should be the same or 
nearly the same, about 70 degrees F. 



i 



To Test Lumpy Cream. 

Add }i stick of Caustic Soda. Put 
this in sample of sour cream and stir 
until lumps dissolve. 

To find number of pounds butterfat in 
milk or cream multiply the pounds of 
milk or cream by percentage as shown 
by test. 

Example I — Milk. 

400 lbs. milk testing 4% butterfat. 
400 X 4 = 16 lbs. butterfat. 

Example II— Cream. 

80 lbs. cream testing 30%. 
80 X 30 = 24 lbs. butterfat. 
Multiply pounds of cream 
by test and divide by 100. 






Milk Test 
Bottle 



Note : It is not necessary to weigh cream samples 
when testing it for one's own use. It is only when buy- 
ing cream that it is compulsory to weigh the samples. 



CHAPTER VI. 

Ripening the Cream 

THE butterfat particles in cream are held in 
solution by the curd. The object of "ripen- 
ing," which really means souring — is to make 
the curd so brittle that the butterfat particles will be 
easily and completely released during the churning 
process. In that way you waste none of the butter- 
fat, but turn it all into butter. It's very profitable to 
properly ripen cream before churning it. 

This process is carried on by heating cream to a 
temperature where the germ life will grow and de- 
velop acid — between 60 and 80 degrees. The tempera- 
ture at which to ripen cream depends on the time of 
year; tem.perature of weather, richness of cream. 
Cream containing a small percentage of butterfat will 
ripen much faster and at a lower temperature than 
rich, high-testing cream. 

Cream containing 18 to 25% butterfat will ripen at 
8 to 10 degrees lower temperature in the same length 
of time than richer cream and great care should be 
taken not to over-ripen it. 

The heavy-testing cream, from 28 to 35%, ripens 
slowly as it does not contain the percentage of milk 
serum (skim milk), therefore can be ripened at a 
higher temperature, but great care should be taken 
not to ripen over 8 to 10 hours. Over-ripening causes 
bitter flavors. 

34 




Ripening the Cream 35 

If you churn cream that is soured in the old fash- 
ioned way, by letting it stand for four or five days, it 
is not ripened evenly on churning day, and conse- 
quently, you lose a lot of butterfat in the buttermilk. 

Cream must be ripened evenly and all to the same 
degree ; then there won't be any loss of butterfat, and 
you will make the best grade butter. 



The Minnetonna patent ripening coil is 
sold exclusively by the Minnetonna Com- 
pany and its dealers. See their Dairy Sup- 
ply catalog. 



The Minnetonna Ripening Coil enables you to get 
this ripening process done just right. First clean and 
scald out the barrel of the Minnetonna Home Cream- 
ery thoroughly. After having cleaned the barrel thor- 
oughly, pour in the cream, first having taken out the 
shelf — put in the ripening coil, and fill it with hot 
water, not too hot, but about 90 degrees. 

Strain the cream into the barrel. This will break 
up the body of the cream and remove any dirt which 
may have found its way in. With the body of the 
cream broken, the churning will be both complete and 
easy. 

Stir the cream by gently rocking the ripening coil 
several times so that all the cream will have an even 
temperature. 

Raise the temperature of the cream to about 80 de- 
grees — stir the cream gently with ripening coil. Be 



36 Hozv to Make Creamery Butter on the Farm 

sure that the temperature of all the cream in the barrel 
is uniform. Use a tested dairy thermometer. Then 
let the cream cool down to about 75 degrees. 

Cover the barrel with a clean cloth, and then with 
a heavy rug or blanket or something to retain the heat 
— that is all there is to do. In the morning when you 
are ready to churn you will find the cream ready, 
ripened every bit of it — and all to the same degree. 

Or you can hold the cream at churning temperature 
for an indefinite length of time, by adding more hot 
water as may be necessary. 

When the cream has a sour yet pleasant taste and 
a good body it is ready to churn. 

After the cream is ripened, especially in the summer 
time, it may be too warm, and if so, you can cool it to 
the right churning temperature by pouring cold water 
through the ripening coil. 

Cooling Cream. — Before churning, the ripened cream 
should be cooled down to the right temperature. The 
object of cooling the cream down is also to get it in 
such a condition that all of the butterfat particles will 
come out of the cream when it is churned. If cream 
is churned at too high a temperature, there will be a 
certain loss of butterfat particles in the buttermilk. 
The Minnetonna Ripening Coil will quickly cool down 
the cream to the proper churning temperature by run- 
ning cold or ice water through it. The correct tem- 
peratures of cream for churning are given in Chapter 
VIII. 

When you are through with the ripening coil pour 
out the water, wipe ripener dry and hang it up in the 
sun or a warm dry place until you want it again. 



CHAPTER VII. 

Testing Cream for Acidity 

THE acid test tells when the cream is ''ripe" or 
sour enough to churn. This device should be 
used with the Minnetonna Home Creamery. 
It is simple. Anyone can quickly learn to use it. 

We will explain the Nafis acidity-testing outfit 
here. We believe it to be the best outfit made for 
home creamery use because of its simplicity and small 
cost. You can procure it from the Minnetonna Com- 
pany. It is listed in their dairy supply catalog. 

The idea of the test is simply this : The acid in 
the cream when mixed with an alkali becomes neutral 
— that is, it changes into a substance that is known 
among chemists as a salt. (There are different kinds 
of salts. Table salt or the salt used for seasoning 
food is only one of the many kinds of salts.) 

The alkali which we use to neutralize the acid in 
sour cream we call neutralizer. 

The amount of neutralizer it takes to neutralize 
the acid in a given quantity of sour cream gives us 
a basis for figuring the percentage of acidity in the 
cream we are testing. 

"But can you tell when the acid in sour cream 
has become neutralized?" you ask. 

We put a few drops of a solution called indicator 
into the sample of sour cream we are testing. Then, 
when enough neutralizer has been added to the sour 
cream to neutralize the acid, the cream will turn 

37 



38 How to Make Creamery Butter on the Farm 

pink. If you know how much neutralizer you have 
added to the cream before it turned pink you can 
easily figure the percentage of acidity of the cream. 

Here's where the necessity for the acidity-testing 
outfit comes in. You must have the instruments for 
making accurate measures of both the sour cream to 
be tested for acidity and the neutralizer used. The 
value of the test depends absolutely upon the accuracy 
of the measures taken. Such a small amount of cream 
is used that if a mistake is made in the test it will 
be multiplied many times over in giving the results 
for the whole amount of cream. 

For measuring out the sour cream we use a glass 
tube called a pipette, which is open at both ends. Dip 
the lower end of the pipette into the cream, put the 
upper end in your mouth and suck slowly until the 
cream is a little past the line in the upper neck of the 
bottle. (If you suck any of the liquid into your mouth 
do not use that liquid as some of the acid from your 
mouth may have mixed with the cream and spoiled 
it for testing.) Remove the end from your mouth and 
quickly place your finger or thumb tightly over open- 
ing (at top). You can then lift the pipette out of the 
cream and the cream in the pipette will not run out 
unless you remove your finger. If the cream in the 
pipette is still above the measuring line, lift your 
thumb slightly and allow the surplus to run out. 

Now let the cream in the pipette run out into a 
clean glass. Then suck some clean water into the 
pipette, shake it around to be sure that none of the 
cream is left in the pipette, and add the rinsing to 
the cream in the glass. 

For this test use a pipette holding 9 c.c. (c.c. means 



Testing Cream for Acidity 



39 



cubic centimeters, the standard of measurement used 
in chemistry). 

Add a couple of drops of indicator to the cream in 
the glass. We are now ready to add the neutralizer, 
but will first explain the apparatus for measuring the 
neutralizer — the Nafis Outfit illustrated here. 

The outfit comes 
''Knocked down" so it is 
first necessary to put it 
together as shown in the 
illustration, being care- 
ful to have all joints 
tight. 

The neutralizer is 
shipped in powder form 
to be mixed with water. 
This saves breakage on 
bottles and express 
charges on the water. 

The large bottle con- 
tains the neutralizer. 

The glass tube (C) 
with figures to 10 c.c. 
(cubic centimeters) is 
called a burette. This 
is used to measure the 
amount of neutralizer 
that is added to the 
cream being tested for acidity. 

The pinchcock (D) when pressed between 
fingers, allows the neutralizer to run out of 
burette as slow or as fast as desired. 

To fill the burette : Hold the rubber vent tube 




the 
the 



40 How to Make Creamery Butter on the Farm 

(B) shut and press down the rubber bulb (A). 
The air pressure then forces neutralizer from the 
bottle into the burette (*'C"). When enough of 
the liquid has been forced into the burette to flow 
into the bulb (E) at the top of the tube, release your 
pressure on the vent tube (B) and the rubber bulb 
(A). The air pressure will then force the surplus neu- 
tralizer back into the bottle so that the burette will 
remain filled only to the zero point. 

It is well to draw out a little of the liquid from the 
burette to be sure that the tip (F) is filled. You must 
then, however, force more neutralizer into the burette, 
so that it is again filled to the zero point. (The neu- 
tralizer drawn off may be put back into the bottle.) 

Making the test. We are now ready to add the 
neutralizer to the cream which we have measured cut 
into the glass. Do this slowly, drop by drop, by 
pressing on the pinchcock (D) very gently. Stir the 
cream constantly. At first the pink color caused by 
adding a few drops of the neutralizer will disappear 
quickly, but as the acid becomes neutralized the color 
will disappear more slowly. As soon as a permanent 
pink color is obtained, the acidity is neutralized. 

Reading the Test. 

The burette holds 10 c.c. of the neutralizer. When 
enough neutralizer has been drawn off to turn the 
cream pink the figure opposite the column of neu- 
tralizer still remaining in the burette indicates the 
number of c.c. of neutralizer it took to neutralize the 
cream. 

Each c.c. of neutralizer used shows that there is 
.1 per cent (one-tenth of one per cent) of acidity in 



Testing Cream for Acidity 41 

the cream. Examples. If 2.1 c.c. of neutralizer are 
used the acidity is .21 per cent (^%oo of 1%) if 6.4 c.c. 
are used the acidity is .64 per cent (*^%oo of 1%)j etc. 
If all the neutralizer in the burette were used before 
the cream turned pink, it would show that the cream 
contained 1% of acid (much too sour for making good 
butter). 

When the acidity of the cream is .5 per cent (one- 
half of one per cent) it is ready to churn. From .5 to 
.7 per cent (one-half to seven-tenths per cent) is safe 
for churning, but .8 per cent is the danger mark. Cream 
should never be that sour to make good butter. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

Starters 

CREAM held at 50 degrees Fahrenheit or there- 
abouts will not ripen or sour at once. In fact, 
it will keep a long time at that temperature. 
Before you ripen it, you must warm it to about 65 or 
70 degrees Fahrenheit. It has been customary on 
most farms to let the cream sour or ripen of its own 
accord, but there are several reasons why this should 
not be done. 

First again, comes flavor. If we were sure the right 
kind of bacteria were in the cream and enough of them 
to eat up any objectionable kinds which may have 
found their way in, there would be no necessity for 
using "starters." 

But as we have no way of knowing this, the safest 
way is to put in the right kind of starter in sufficient 
quantities, so you will know just what the results will 
be beforehand. 

Then too, if the cream is allowed to ripen of its own 
accord, you will have to churn when the cream is 
ready, which may not be a convenient time. If the 
cream is kept sweet until the starter is put in, it can 
be so timed that it is ready when you want it, be that 
morning, noon or night. 

Another reason for using the starter, and an impor- 
tant reason, is that you will get better butter of a more 

42 



Starters 



43 



uniform grade out of a given quantity of cream by 
using a good starter, than you will by allowing the 
cream to ripen of its own accord. 

We advise the use of a commercial starter. There 
are several good ones on the market. Starter tablets 
can be bought from the Minnetonna Company. 

That you may be prepared for such an emergency 
as finding yourself out of starter tablets and unable to 
get a new supply quickly, we include at the end of 
this chapter directions for a home-made starter. 



The Minnetonna Tea Kettle 
Starter Outfit. The can fits 
into any family size tea kettle 
and is used like a double boiler 
in heating the cream to the 
proper temperature. The glass 
jar is for keeping the starter in 
until used. See the Minne- 
tonna Dairy Supply catalog. 




How to Use a Commercial Starter. 

Take two quarts of milk and heat to 180 or 190° F., 
cool to 80, add one tablet; set at a temperature of 80 
in winter; 69 to 70 in summer. It will take 12 to 15 
hours to coagulate (sour). Set in glass jars or glass 
stopper bottle. This is the most sanitary way to grow 



44 How to Make Creamery Butter on the Farm 

a starter. Absolute cleanliness must be used in mak- 
ing starters. All utensils should be washed clean and 
scalded when being used. Never put thermometer in 
mouth when taking temperatures. It will transfer the 
germs into the starter. 

When starter is ripe stir it thoroughly so as to break 
up the curd ; then cool to 60° if used at once and to 
50 if held any length of time. 

When the cream to be churned is heated to proper 
temperatures for ripening, add the starter, stirring the 
cream so the starter will be well stirred into it. Then 
let the cream stand until ripe. 

Cream containing from 18 to 20% of butterfat 
should have 2 quarts of '"starter" to each 10 gallons of 
cream or less. Two quarts of starter will not do any 
harm in five gallons of cream. Cream containing from 
28 to 35% of butterfat should have 3 quarts of "start- 
er" to 10 gallons of cream. 

Cream should never contain over 35% butterfat to 
get good results in churning. 

When cows are milked a long time (strippers) the 
cream is very difficult to ripen as it contains a large 
percentage of milk sugar, and will ripen slowly, espe- 
cially when fed on dry feed in winter time. The per- 
centage of "starter" can be increased under these con- 
ditions and higher temperatures used. Great care 
must be taken as such cream will develop undesirable 
flavors if held too long or ripened too long before 
churning, causing bitter flavor in the butter. 

A Few Things to Remember. 

Remember that the lactic acid germ is a tiny, deli- 
cate plant. 



Starters 45 



That heat may very easily destroy its life. 

That cold does it no injury whatever. 

That high acid weakens and finally kills it. 

That a temperature between 65-75° F. is most fa- 
vorable for the production of a good quality of acid. 

Always use a thermometer when setting a starter. 

Never pasteurize without knowing the time and 
temperature applied. 

Never use old, acid or unclean milk. 

Never use anything but glassware or good tinware 
for handling your starter. 

Have a well tinned starter can. Copper is poison to 
the good flavor of lactic acid. 

Try to be a good judge of conditions as they arise. 

Do not think that the starter will take care of itself. 

Do not think that any kind of sweet milk is good 
for making a first-class starter. 

Do not shake up the starter until it is to be used. 

Home-Made Starter. 

Take 2 quarts of milk; select the milk from the 
newest milk cow that gives the most milk. Cool and 
stir this milk so as to drive off all animal heat; then 
heat to 85 degrees and place in a Mason fruit jar; set 
it where the temperature will stay at 85. It coagu- 
lates (sours) in 10 to 12 hours. This starter should 
be stirred until all the lumps break up and it appears 
like rich cream. Then cool to 50 and it can be trans- 
ferred into the cream to be ripened. 

Should there be an unpleasant odor or taste to the 
starter, it should not, of course, be used. No matter 
how careful you may be this sometimes happens. It 
is advisable to have two or three jars of starter going 



46 How to Make Creamery Butter on the Farm 

at the same time so that you will not have to wait 24 
hours for another one. 

When ripening your cream in a Minnetonna Home 
Creamery, put the cream in the barrel first, then pour 
in the starter. This gives the starter a better chance 
to become thoroughly mixed with the cream. 

When the cream has soured to the point where it is 
just about the same taste as the starter, it is just 
where you want it and should be cooled down to 
churning temperature. 



CHAPTER IX. 

Butter Color 

When and How to Use Color. 

COLOR should be added to cream before it is 
churned. The amount of color will depend 
upon the market, kinds of cows milked, time 
of year and kind of feed used. The cream from Jer- 
sey or Guernsey herds usually need little, if any color. 
Holstein and other breeds produce white butter and 
color must be used to get an even color. This will 
have to be governed to meet conditions by the one 
who churns. 

For mixed herds, in winter, add one teaspoonful of 
color to each 5 gallons of cream testing from 18 to 
25% butterfat; and one and one-half teaspoonfuls for 
cream testing from 25 to 35% butterfat. No color 
need be used when cows are on full grass, unless dur- 
ing a very dry season. 

Should you forget to add the color to the cream be- 
fore churning, you may include it with the salt just 
before working the butter. First add the color to the 
dry salt, mixing it thoroughly, — then add the mixture 
to the butter and proceed with the working. Be care- 
ful not to spill any of the color or colored salt mix- 
ture on the shelf or rollers in the barrel. Color should 
be mixed with salt only when it is dry, never with wet 
salt. 

47 



48 How to Make Creamery Butter on the Farm 

Do not allow butter color to freeze, as this causes 
specks in butter. 

Sometimes we get butter color from the stores that 
has been on hand for years, and has lost its strength 
or has been adulterated and is of no value. When 
buying color get it as fresh as possible and from re- 
liable companies. Old color imparts a rancid oily 
flavor to butter. 

The color should be the shade of yellow which is 
produced when the cows are in the pasture in the early 
part of summer. The color should be uniform, that is, 
not mottled or streaked. Uneven color is usually 
caused by the salt not being thoroughly distributed, 
and in this way indicates too little working. If the 
color is decidedly too high or too low it would be 
counted a defect even though it be uniform. 



CHAPTER X. 

Churning 

CHURNING is the process of turning the butter 
granules in cream into butter by some form 
of agitation — stirring, shaking, lifting and 
dropping, etc. It was discovered by the Egyptians 
several centuries ago, w^hile carrying goats' milk in 
skin sacks on camels' backs. The shaking of the sacks 
for many hours on long journeys caused the milk to 
churn into butter. 

Science has adopted certain principles in churning 
cream that have made it easier, quicker and more ex- 
haustive or "cleaner." By exhaustive or "clean" churn- 
ing is meant that all of the butterfat globules in the 
cream are turned into butter. By the more primitive 
methods of churning a considerable per cent of the 
butterfat remained in the buttermilk after the churn- 
ing and therefore v^as lost as far as its most valuable 
and profitable use was concerned. A machine having 
shelves and roll will churn faster and cleaner than the 
old-fashioned box or barrel churn because the cream is 
more thoroughly agitated. These scientific principles 
and many others are embodied in the Minnetonna 
Home Creamery. Therein lies its efficiency. 

Temperature at Which to Churn. 

This depends on several conditions, but cream 
should never be above 62 degrees or below 52 degrees 

49 



50 How to Make Creamery Butter on the Farm 

for home creamery buttermaking. (See table oh tem- 
peratures). When cream is put into churn it will be 
noticed that the temperature will rise during the churn- 
ing process, as much as 4 degrees. This is caused by 
the agitation friction. This occurs especially in warm 
weather. 

The following table shows the different tempera- 
tures at which cream can be churned at different sea- 
sons with different percentages of fat in cream : 



Test 


Spring 


Summer 


Autumn 


Winter 


30 


52-56 


52-56 


58-60 


58-60 


28 


54-58 


52-56 


58-60 


58-60 


26 


54-58 


54-58 


58-60 


60-60 


24 


56-60 


54-58 


58-60 


60-61 


22 


58-60 


56-58 


58-60 


60-62 


20 


58-61 


56-60 


60-60 


62-62 


18 


60-62 


57-60 


60-62 


62-62 



In very cold weather or when using cream from 
cows long in lactation period or fed on dry feed, you 
can safely churn at 62 degrees F. ; and in warm 
weather or where the cows are fresh and fed on green 
feed, you may go down to 52 degrees F. ; but these 
are conditions the person on the job must look into for 
himself. 

The best way to discover the proper temperature 
would be to take the temperature at different times 
and then stick to the one which obtained the best re- 
sults. 

It takes a little longer to churn at a low temperature 
than it does at a high one, but so much better butter 
can be made where you churn at a low one that we 
strongly advise it. If it is churned at about 60 degrees 
the butter should break in from 15 to 25 minutes, or 
if at 52 degrees in from 25 to 40 minutes. 



Churning 51 



If churned at too high a temperature — higher than 
58 degrees in summer or 62 degrees in winter — the 
butter is likely to have a greasy appearance. If 
churned at too low a temperature — less than 52 degrees 
in summer or 58 degrees in winter — the butter will be 
hard and often incomplete and will not hold much 
moisture, in that way reducing the overrun. 

Directions for Operating the Minnetonna 
Home Creamery. 

It is best not to fill the barrel over half full — and 
many find that the best results are obtained when the 
barrel is less than one-third full. 

The reason for this is that the more the cream is 
agitated, the quicker the butter is made and the better 
the butter that results. And when the barrel is too 
full the agitation is not as thorough as necessary 
to produce the best results. 

Furthermore, the barrel should be operated at the 
speed given in the special directions for the type of 
Minnetonna Home Creamery you possess. (See spe- 
cial directions in the back of this book.) 

If the barrel is operated slower than directed, the 
butter will not come as quickly as desired. 

If it is turned too rapidly the cream will cling to 
the sides and part of the butter will be lost. 

There are several methods of telling when the churn- 
ing is complete, but the best and simplest way is to 
note the size of the flaky granules, which should be 
shaggy and the size of kernels of corn. 

Notice carefully the little glass peep-hole in the side 
of the barrel. During the churning this little round 
glass is always milk-wet. The very first time the glass 



52 How to Make Creamery Butter on the Farm 

clears entirely the butter has come and the churning 
process is over. You are then ready to draw off the 
buttermilk — wash, salt and work the butter as per in- 
structions. 

Over-churning. — When we agitate cream we break 
up the casein or curd part of the cream and cause 
the butterfat globules contained in the cream to unite 
and form granules. These little granules contain sev- 
eral thousand fat globules. They will multiply very 
fast in size after formed in the churn, and great care 
and precaution should be taken not to over-churn them 
and form them in a solid mass. This is very detrimen- 
tal to good buttermaking. Over-churning affects the 
flavor of butter, the body or texture and the color, as 
it is impossible to remove the buttermilk from over- 
churned butter. 

Slow churning is caused by having too much cream 
in the churn or having cream at too low a temperature 
or not sufficiently ripened. When cream is not ripe 
the casein or curd is tough and it will not break so 
the fat globules can unite. Such cream can be churned 
for several hours before the butter will form. It will 
not churn until the agitation and friction warms the 
cream so that the fat globules can unite. When the 
butter finally does come, it will be soft, slushy and 
greasy — poor butter. This often occurs from old milk 
cows fed on dry feed. To avoid this trouble, ripen 
more and raise the temperature on ripening and churn- 
ing. 



CHAPTER XI. 

Washing, Working, Salting, Packing 

Drawing off Buttermilk. 

WHEN the churning is done, open the faucet 
at the bottom of the barrel to draw off the 
buttermilk. This should be done as soon as 
the churning is complete. It is important to leave the 
faucet open as long as the buttermilk runs out. The 
faucet connects with a strainer tube made of perforated 
metal, which prevents the loss of any butterfat par- 
ticles. Next, close the faucet and pour some clean, 
cold water into the barrel. After 8 to 10 turns of the 
barrel on slow speed, draw off this water and the butter 
is then thoroughly cleansed of buttermilk and ready to 
work. Buttermilk, if left in the butter, has a tendency 
to cause it to sour and spoil. Under the old method 
of making butter it was very difficult, and at times 
impossible, to get out all of the buttermilk. 
Washing. 

The butter should be washed with water from 2 to 
10 degrees colder than the buttermilk and twice as 
much water used as buttermilk in small machines. 
Great care should be taken as to the temperature of 
the wash water. When buttermilk has a tempera- 
ture of 62 or above, the wash water can be 50 F. When 
buttermilk is below 60, the water can be 2 to 4 degrees 
lower than the buttermilk. 

53 



54 How to Make Creamery Butter on the Farm 

If the wash water, when drawn off, is not clear but 
is quite milky, the butter should be washed again. 
Use water a few degrees lower than the butter and 
about half as much as the first wash. Washing the 
butter improves its flavor and keeping qualities. Be 
sure to have pure water, for impure water might have 
more undesirable effects than the buttermilk. 

Salting Butter. 

First mix the salt in enough water so that the dirt 
will rise to the top. Then pour off the water until the 
dirt is removed, thus washing the salt. In winter the 
water used for this purpose should be just warm 
enough so that the chill is off — about 68 to 70 degrees. 
In summer it should be straight from the pump, as cold 
as possible. 

Next, take the ladle, make a trough in the roll of 
butter that lies on the shelf in the barrel, add salt, dis- 
tributing it evenly from one end of the butter mass to 
the other. 

Home-made creamery butter can be salted higher 
than butter for New York market. Use two ounces 
of salt to one pound of butter to be made. 

To determine ultimate amount of butter to be made 
from given batch of cream, add one-fifth to weight of 
butterfat. 

For example: 50 lbs. cream testing 30% requires 36 oz. 
salt. 

50 lbs. cream testing 30% equals 15 lbs. butterfat. 

Ys of 15 equals 3 lbs. 3 lbs. added to 15 equals 18 lbs. butter. 

2 oz. salt to lb. butter 2x18 equals 36 oz. salt. 

Over Salting. 

When too much salt has been used, the percentage 
can be decreased by adding cold water, working a few 



Washing, Working, Salting, Packing 55 

revolutions and draining off. This should not be done 
until the working process is nearly finished. Great 
care should be taken not to add too much water or 
wash too much so as to reduce the salt too much. 

Caution. 

Never use coarse barrel salt for butter. It will not 
dissolve, but leave the butter gritty and mottled. Never 
use table salt. It is too fine and will wash out. Use 
only butter salt made for this purpose. The best is 
none too good, as salting is a particular part of butter- 
making. 

There are several brands of salt on the market made 
especially for butter that do not cost any more than 
the salt that you buy at the grocery store. We advise 
using one of these, as they are far better for the pur- 
pose and just as good for other purposes. 

The salt should be the same temperature as the wash 
water and can be made so by mixing with water, which 
will also dissolve it to a certain extent and cause it 
to mix better with butter. Never use dry salt, as it 
takes too long to properly incorporate it into the but- 
ter, with the result that your butter is overworked 
and becomes greasy. 

Working Butter. 

. Butter should be worked until, when broken, it 
shows a grain like a broken piece of steel — a long 
grain. Butter should have a firm, waxy body, not 
brittle or short-grained. Butter can be worked from 
20 to 35 revolutions without hurting grain or texture, 
especially if body is cold and firm. Great care must 



56 How to Make Creamery Butter on the Farm 

be taken to see that the salt is thoroughly worked in, so 
it is not gritty. 

You can tell by looking at the butter when it has 
been worked sufficiently. When the butter has been 
thoroughly worked you will find it all in a solid, com- 
pact mass or roll on the shelf, and it can be lifted out 
of the barrel in one piece, by hand, or you can lift the 
shelf out and the butter with it. 

The objects of working butter are: First, to dis- 
tribute the salt ; second, to bring the butter into com- 
pact form ; and lastly, to incorporate the moisture 
to the desired proportion of 16%. 

Value of Salt and Moisture in Butter. 

Butter containing a good percentage of moisture 
and salt will keep longer. Fifteen to 16 per cent mois- 
ture and 2 to 3 per cent salt are better than dry, lightly 
salted butter, as the water and salt form a brine pickle 
that preserves and keeps butter fresh and sweet. 

When we incorporate 15 to 16 per cent moisture 
and 3 per cent of salt we can make considerably more 
money than if we have light moisture and salt. Every 
pound of water and salt we add to butterfat increases 
the value of our butterfat. Here is where a rightly 
constructed buttermaking machine like tTie Minne- 
tonna Home Creamery makes more money for the 
dairyman. 

The Overrun. 

Butterfat and butter are not the same thing. All 
butter contains butterfat, but there are other things in 
butter besides butterfat. 



Washing, Working, Salting, Packing 57 

The butterfat of cream, as determined by the 
Babcock butterfat test (used by all creamery men and 
cream buyers) is pure butter oil. Butter on the other 
hand, is a mixture of butter oil, water, curd, salt and 
ash. The average composition of butter is approxi- 
mately as follows : 

Butterfat 80.25 per cent 

Water 15.00 per cent 

Curd 75 per cent 

Salt 3.50 per cent 

Ash, acid, etc 50 per cent 

Thus 80 pounds of butterfat makes about 100 pounds 
of butter, after the proper amount of moisture and salt 
have been worked in. The curd, ash, etc., are already 
in the cream, — the small amount that is usually found 
in the butter when chemically analyzed is the amount 
that is not lost in the churning process. 

Now let's see what this "over-run" means in the 
way of profit. The difference between 80 pounds and 
100 pounds is 20 pounds. Twenty pounds is one- 
fourth of 80, or 25%. This means 25% more for your 
cream in the form of butter, just on account of the 
"over-run" alone, to say nothing of the possibility of 
getting higher prices for your butter than the cream- 
ery gets for theirs. 

Packing Butter. 

If jars or tubs are used they should be filled with 
cold water and allowed to swell up and cool off be- 
fore they are used, so that when the butter is packed 
in them, it will not melt around the edges. 

The most marketable form in which to put up but- 
ter is in one pound prints. There are two types of 



58 How to Make Creamery Butter on the Farm 

butter-printing machine, one operated by hand and 
the other has a lever which hastens the work and for 
a large dairy would be preferable. Both types have 
loose bottoms, that is, the bottoms can be removed and 
the print of butter will come out. 

When the butter is printed it should be wrapped in 
parchment paper, which is air- and moisture-proof and 
preserves the butter to a great extent. 

The Minnetonna Company can supply printers, 
parchment paper cartons and shipping boxes. Read 
their dairy supply catalog. 





Limited Capacity. 



Full Capacity. 



These cross section views show how the butter is worked in the Minne- 
tonna Home Creamery — the large working roll revolves and forces the but- 
ter down between itself and the idle roll in the lower end of the shelf. 
By simply slipping the shelf into either one or the other of the two sets of 
pegs, you have the proper adjustment for working a small or a large 
quantity of butter. 



CHAPTER XII. 

Buttermaking Troubles and their Causes 

What Causes Short Grain Butter. 

FREEZING cream. 
Not working enough. 
Churning too warm. 
Churning too cold. 
Over-working butter. 
Freezing butter after made. 

What Causes Streaked or Mottled Butter. 

Uneven working. 

Putting cold salt into butter that is warm. 

Not putting salt in evenly. 

Not working enough. 

Putting in dry salt that does not dissolve. 

What Makes Butter Salvy. 

Overchurning butter. 

Overworking butter. 

Churning cream at too high temperature. 

What Causes Bitter Butter. 

Old stale cream. 
Ripening cream too slow. 

Holding cream at ripening temperature too long. 
59 



60 How to Make Creamery Butter on the Farm 

Where Cattle Run Outside. 

Feeding large quantities of oat straw. 

Cows during long period of lactation (old milk 

cows). 
Feeding rutabagas before milking. 
Eating corn stalks. 

What Causes Flat Flavor. 

Not ripening cream enough. 
Churning sweet cream. 
Not using salt enough. 

What Causes Gritty Butter. 

Using too much salt. 

Using salt dry and cold. 

Using coarse-grained salt. (Never use any kind 

of salt other than regular butter salt). 
Using too cold water to wash butter. 
Not having salt dissolved in butter. 
Not working butter enough. 

What Causes Low "Over-Run." 

Churning too warm — heavy loss of butterfat in 

buttermilk. 
Churning too cold — having hard small granules. 
Not incorporating moisture in butter. 

THE DEFECTS IN MILK AND CREAM WHICH 
CAUSE TROUBLE. 

From Flavors. 

Absorbed from air. Poor ventilation. 
Stables unclean. 



Buttermaking Troubles and Their Causes 61 

Milkhouse unsanitary. 
Kitchen flavors from cooking. 
Keeping in ice chest with vegetables. 

From Chemical Action. 

Sour. 

Bitter. 

Gassy. 

Rapey. 

Thick coagulated. 

From Cow. 

Unhealthy. 
Character of feed. 

Resulting Butter. 

Rancid. 

Sour. 

Bitter. 



CHAPTER XIII 

The Care and Operation of The Minne- 
tonna Home Creamery 

WARNING 

Be Sure to Soak the Barrel of Your Home Creamery 

With Hot Water Before Making 

Butter the First Time 

YOUR Home Creamery may have been in the 
warehouse or stock room for some time. 
Unless you soak the barrel thoroughly with 
hot water, it may leak both at the cover and perhaps 
in the heads. 

First: Fill the barrel with hot water, put the cover 
on, turn up door buttons (Casting No. 209). You can 
also tighten cover at door strap loops No. 218, by turn- 
ing down set screw. 

Be sure to loosen straps or bands at hoop lug No. 
215 a trifle. The hot water makes the barrel swell and 
if straps are not loosened a trifle, the heads may 
bulge. 

And remember to do this also : When you are soak- 
ing the barrel turn the barrel over with the cover 
down so the cork will swell. When the cork is thor- 
oughly soaked it becomes very pliable and will not re- 
quire a great deal of strain on the door buttons in 
order to tighten the joint. 

62 



Care and Operation of Minnetonna Home Creamery 63 

Give the barrel a good thorough soaking. Keep in 
the hot water until there is not the slightest sign of a 
leak at cover or in heads. 

Let the Barrel Cool Off Itself. Do Not Use Cold 
Water to Cool the Barrel. 

As soon as the barrel is completely cooled off, 
tighten the barrel straps. If the cover is too tight, 
loosen it easily at strap loops No. 218. 

Follov^ these instructions and the barrel v^ill not 
leak. If you churn twice each week it will probably 
not be necessary to ever soak barrel again, but should 
barrel leak at any time, due perhaps to the fact that 
you may not have used it for a long time, all you need 
to do is to soak it again according to these instruc- 
tions. 

Be sure that roll screw No. 283 is turned into place. 

If you have any trouble write and tell us about it 
and we will tell you what to do. 

SPECIAL DIRECTIONS FOR OPERATING 

MINNETONNA HOME CREAMERY. 

Sizes 3A and 2C. 

Before starting to churn, see that the front and rear 
bearings are properly oiled ; also oil No. 254 gear on 
eccentric shaft. 

When the machine is operated by hand, the speed for 
churning with heavy cream should be not more than 
30 revolutions per minute; but with light cream as 
fast as 40 revolutions per minute. 

To get the working speed, throw the eccentric lever 
to the left and turn the crank handle, at the same 



64 How to Make Creamery Butter on the Farm 

speed as when churning, and the barrel will revolve 
at the proper speed for working. 

To put the worker roll into motion, throw the stop 
button on the leg over far enough to come in contact 
with the extension on the internal gear, which will 
hold the internal gear stationar}^ and cause the pinion 
to revolve on the inside of the larger gear, thus turning 
the worker. When the machine is operated by power, 
the speed for churning is regulated by the speed of 
the pulley, which should run about 2C0 revolutions per 
minute. 

For working the butter the eccentric lever is thrown 
to the left and the stop button turned to come in con- 
tact with the extension on the internal gear as de- 
scribed above. 

When the machine is furnished for power and power 
is not used, remove the drive chain from the large 
sprocket, before using for hand power. 

Do not change the speed from slow to high when 
the machine is running, as there is a possibility of 
breaking the gear clutch. 

Do not keep tightening the door button nuts unless 
they work loose, for they do not pull the buttons any 
closer to the strap. 

The capacity of all sizes of the Minnetonna Home 
Creamery is figured on 30 per cent cream with the 
barrel half full. 

Be sure to wash the barrel, shelf and worker roll 
with scalding water when through churning. Dry 
the barrel with the door removed and the door open- 
ing turned down. 

After churning for a short time, the vent should 
be opened to allow the gas, which forms, to escape. 



Care and Operation of Minnetonna Home Creamery 65 

The spiral spring must be on main shaft outside of 
sprocket wheel No. 255. If inside the gears will not 
mesh on high speed. 

To take roll out of barrel loosen thumbscrew or 
roll end key. The shelf lifts out of barrel by simply 
moving wooden latch. 

SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR MINNETONNA 
HOME CREAMERY. ALL NO. 1 STYLES. 

Be sure to oil all the bearing boxes and sprockets 
well before starting to work the machine. Also see 
that the pulley grease cup is filled with hard oil, so 
that you will have no trouble with cut bearings. 

The lever on the upper shaft is used only to throw 
the roll into motion when working the butter. 

The clutch lever on the lower shaft when thrown 
to the left places the gearing in high speed or churn- 
ing speed. When thrown to the right it places the 
gearing in slow speed or working speed. 

The pulley lever when thrown to the left expands 
the friction in the pulley and starts the churn in 
motion. 

The friction pulley is the most practicable churn 
pulley in use, and is the most simple to operate and 
adjust. Each friction is adjusted before leaving the 
factory, but as the wearing blocks wear away, it will 
be necessary to force these blocks closer to the pulley 
rim by screwing up the set screws in the friction arms 
under the blocks. 

The pulley should run at 150 R. P. M. The barrel 
will then revolve 30 times a minute with the clutch 
thrown in churning speed, which is the proper speed 
to give satisfactory results. The clutch thrown to 



66 How to Make Creamery Butter on the Farm 

working speed will revolve the barrel 7 R. P. M. 
Throw the roll clutch in and the worker roll revolves 
12 times to every revolution of the barrel. 

If you have any trouble, or if there is anything you 
do not understand, write us. 

A churn should be scalded with boiling water just 
as soon as the butter is removed. Use 2 to 4 pails 
if you have a small size Minnetonna, and enough to 
make about one-third full if you have a large size. 
Run 1 to 5 minutes if large size and 1 to 2 minutes 
if small size. Always put roll in gear while running 
and be sure to run on high speed. After this has 
been done drain off boiling water. It may be neces- 
sary in some cases to rinse twice with boiling water. 

To Clean Old Barrel in Bad Condition. 

Use a quart of sulphuric acid. Mix one-third full 
of water at a temperature of 130 degrees, close door 
tight, run for 5 minutes, draw off water; run churn 
one-quarter full boiling water, add from 1 to 5 pounds 
of sal-soda or Wyandotte washing powder; run 30 
revolutions on high speed ; then rinse a few times 
with boiling water. Then run with cold salt water, 
using 5 to 10 pounds of salt in cold water. 

To Sweeten a Sour Barrel. 

Use one-half quart of slacked lime mixed with water, 
temperature of 85 degrees, run churn and leave in 
several hours. Draw off and rinse with boiling water 
twice ; then run or soak with cold salt water. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

How to Make Cottage Cheese 

Buttermilk Cottage Cheese. 

SET buttermilk in a can at temperature from 85 
to 90 degrees; let it stand until curd settles to 
the bottom of the can, pour off one-half of whey. 
Then place can in boiling water, raise temperature 
to between 130 and 140 degrees ; hold at this temper- 
ature for 15 minutes without stirring. Pour into a 
clean sugar sack and drain off whey, wash with water 
at a temperature of 90 to 100 degrees by pouring water 
over cheese in sack. Drain water off by twisting sack 
with a stick. It is necessary to wash well and drain 
dry so as to remove all whey from the curd. Salt one- 
quarter ounce butter-salt to pound of cheese. Add 
sweet cream when ready to serve. This makes good 
cottage cheese and from 6 to 8 pounds can be made 
from 100 pounds of buttermilk. 

Skimmed Milk Cottage Cheese. 

Set skimmed milk in a can at temperature between 
75 and 90 degrees. Let it set at this temperature until 
it becomes thick and sour (coagulated). Then place 
the can into boiling water. Raise temperature of the 
sour milk to 110 degrees, stirring gently not to break 
curd up too fine. Cook at this temperature from 15 

67 



68 How to Make Creamery Butter on the Farm 

to 20 minutes. When curd begins to get firmer pour 
into a clean sugar sack and let the whey drain off. 
Then wash the curd by pouring a small amount of 
water into sack at a temperature of 85 to 90 degrees. 
This will remove rancid flavor. Salt at the rate of 
one-half teaspoonful of salt to pound of cheese; then 
keep in a cool place until ready to serve. When serv- 
ing, add a little sweet cream and work with a long 
spoon. This gives the cheese a fine texture. Never 
add cream until ready to serve as the acids in the 
cheese will cause curd to become sour, especially in 
hot weather after cream has been added. 



CHAPTER XV. 

Managing the Dairy Herd to Produce 
the Largest and Richest Milk Yields 

Importance of Proper Care and Feeding. 

It is not so much a matter of cows as it is a matter 
of care. 

Recent investigations have proven that even com- 
mon cows are capable of producing much larger yields 
than those secured by the average farmer. 

One of our large state universities has in its dairy 
herd a number of common cows. 

It has been proven that these common cows — and 
by common cows it is meant cows having no dairy 
heredity — can be induced to greatly increase their year- 
ly yield. The average yield from these common cows, 
over records taken each year for twenty-three years, 
is 5,000 pounds of milk and 222 pounds of butter. 

If we figure the butter at the rate of thirty cents 
per pound, it means that the product of each cow has 
a value of $66.60 for butter alone. Since the average 
yield of the common cow is $46.40 according to aver- 
age statistics, this certainly proves that care and proper 
feeding will induce the average cow to yield $20.20 
more per year. 

The foregoing must not be misunderstood. It is 
not in any way a disparagement of the practice of 

69 



70 How to Make Creamery Butter on the Farm 

purchasing blooded cattle, or of the practice of grading 
up the herd. It is simply a statement of a fact. And 
that fact is that proper care and feeding is most essen- 
tial if one is to derive the most profit from the milk- 
making machine known as a cow. 

Proper breeding is, of course, essential, but proper 
handling and proper feeding are also most essential 
if one is to pocket the most profit from his dairy herd. 

Weeding Out "Boarders." 

It does not cost any more to keep good cows than 
poor cows and the returns from the good cows at the 
end of the year greatly exceed the returns from ordi- 
nary cows during the same period. 

The first time this matter is brought right home to 
the dairy farmer and figured out for him, comparisons 
made, the Babcock test used and the better cows se- 
lected from the ordinary ones in the herd, he is usually 
dumfounded and amazed, and when you still figure 
and add up the number of dollars that have been lost 
and wasted year after year, due to the fact that he 
has been wasting good feed and good pasture land 
on ordinary, non-producing, no-profit cows, he is 
speechless. 

Grade cows are not a necessity. If you are just 
starting in the dairy business, chances are you can't 
afford to spend a lot of money for high-priced cows. 
The best plan is to grade up, weed out the poor cows, 
the heavy feeders that are poor milkers, add a good 
tested cow to your herd whenever you can economi- 
cally, and you will come out all right. Keep cow 
records. Be sure you are getting a run for your 
money. 



Managing the Dairy Herd 71 

How to Grade Up Herds. 

The most satisfactory method of grading up a herd 
is that of using a pure-bred sire with the cows now in 
your herd. 

This sire should be selected very carefully. 

Best results are found to be obtained from the sons 
of heavy-milking dams. One of the best tests for 
such a sire is the fact that he is already credited with 
the production of heavy-milking offspring. 

The finest bred bull, if young, is always more or less 
of a gamble. He may produce splendid milking off- 
spring, but again he may not. Pedigree does not alone 
assure that. Judge him by his products. However, 
a properly pedigreed animal is usually to be relied 
upon in this respect. 

One good rule to follow is not to dispose of a satis- 
factory bull until you have found a superior bull to 
take his place. Judge that superiority solely by the 
fact that the new bull has produced offspring of greater 
milk-producing capacity. 

The only way on earth that you will ever be able 
to grade up your herd is to use a pure-bred sire. Ex- 
perts do not recommend grade sires. Their help in 
grading up the herd is not certain, nor is it rapid. 
Grade sires quite frequently transmit to their offspring 
some of the undesirable qualities inherited from their 
low-grade ancestors. Sometimes this not only retards 
the progress of the grade of your herd, but actually 
sets it back. 

Any farmer using a pure-bred sire can reasonably 
expect that each succeeding generation of grade heifers 
will produce more heavily than their dams. 

Don't guess on this point. Keep a record of each 



72 Hozv to Make Creamery Butter on the Farm 

cow's product. Have as your ambition a yearly av- 
erage milk yield of more than 4,000 pounds per cow. 

Most dairymen who have taken this as their aim 
have surpassed this point. 

And it pays. 

What Grading Has Done in Other Instances. 

We quote the following from a table compiled to 
show how experience has proved that a pure-bred 
sire will grade up a mixed or common herd of cows 
into practically pure-bred dairy animals: 

Calves of first generation contain 50 % pure blood. 
Calves of second generation contain 75 % pure blood. 
Calves of third generation contain 87.5% pure blood. 
Calves of fourth generation contain 93.75% pure blood. 
Calves of fifth generation contain 96.87% pure blood. 
Calves of sixth generation contain 98.43% pure blood. 

Therefore it will be seen that the sixth generation 
is practically 99 per cent pure. 

It might be stated here that when conditions have 
been favorable, animals of the fourth generation are 
hard to distinguish from absolutely pure-bred cattle. 
This shows that a pure bred sire will impress the traits 
of his breed upon his offspring within four generations, 
as a rule. 

It is only from pure-bred sires that you can expect 
results like this. 

If you will write to Cornell University, Ithaca, New 
York, the authorities there will be very glad to send 
you a bulletin giving the history, care and feeding of a 
speciaf herd on which this method of grading up the 
herd was used. 



Managing the Dairy Herd 73 

Results at Cornell have been similar to those ex- 
perienced by shrewd dairymen throughout the United 
States. They have proven that a good dairy cow 
should produce at least 5,000 pounds of milk and over 
200 pounds of butterfat every year. It is easy to un- 
derstand what this means to the dairymen when it is 
realized that the average in the United States is less 
than 3,000 pounds of milk per cow. 

Make use of the Babcock test. It is a simple and 
cheap and an infallible way of learning the precise val- 
ue of your cows. It shows you which cow shows a 
profit and which one does not. It helps you to get 
rid of the cows that are not profit producers. 

Hints on Handling Dairy Cows. 

The average dairy cow is as nervous as the pro- 
verbial cat. The more highly bred the cow, the more 
nervous it is as a rule. Rough handling will always 
show itself in the decrease in milk yield. It pays to 
treat your dairy cows gently. If you run or hurry 
them or allow the dogs to annoy them, or the hired 
hands to stone, beat or kick them, you will pay for it 
in decrease in milk yield. Keeping your cows clean 
means putting dividends into your own pocket. 

Also protect your cows from cold winds and cold 
storms. 

Too many dairymen do not realize that cows must 
be treated individually. No two cows can be treated 
or fed exactly the same. Do not forget for one minute 
that you lose in profit for every excitement, worry, 
exposure, abuse or neglect your cows suffer. 

Perhaps we might better first define the meaning of 
nutritive ration, inasmuch as that term will be used 
frequently in these instructions on proper feeding. 



74 How to Make Creamery Butter on the Farm 

This term is used to express the respective amounts 
of protein — the muscle, the blood and milk-making 
parts of feed — and what are known as carbohydrates 
and fats, which are the heat and fat-producing elements 
of feed. 

Protein is the name given to the group of food ele- 
ments in the feed that contain nitrogen. The protein 
in the feed makes lean flesh, blood, tendons, hair, horn, 
wool, and casein and albumen of milk. The necessity 
for the feed to be high in protein value is that this 
protein actually maintains existence — makes the cattle 
grow — and is the primal cause for the increase in milk 
yield. 

The food element known as carbohydrates goes to 
make up either fat, or heat or energy. Coarse fodders, 
such as marsh hay, prairie hay, timothy, millet, sor- 
ghum, fodder corn, stover and straw as well as clover 
or alfalfa hay need the addition of some concentrate 
with a high protein content such as small farm grains. 

The fats include the wax and green coloring matter 
of plants. The fat element of the ration is either 
stored up in the body or burned to furnish heat and 
energy to the animal. The importance of making 
sure that the feed contains the proper proportion of 
fat elements can be readily seen when it is shown you 
that as a heat producer, a pound of fat is worth as 
much as 2.2 pounds of carbohydrates. 

A little study on the part of the dairyman and 
farmer will soon enable him to provide that ration 
which will preserve the proper nutritive ratio. 

Experts have proven that the most economical and 
the best ratio for dairy crop is from 6.5 to 7.5 pounds 
digestible carbohydrates and fats to one pound of 



Managing the Dairy Herd 75 

protein. There will be a shrinkage either in milk or 
body weight if the ratio of protein to carbohydrates 
and fats is greater than that prescribed above. More- 
over, feeds high in protein are expensive. 

To make this even more clear, nutritive ratio is 
something obtained by dividing the sum of the digest- 
ible carbohydrates and fats by the digestible proteins. 

To bring this point closer home, we will point out 
the fact that there are two pounds of carbohydrates 
to one pound of protein in separator skimmed milk. 
That is, there is twice as much of carbohydrates and 
fats as there is of protein. Therefore, the nutritive 
ratio is expressed this way — skimmed milk 1 : 2. 

In order that you may know exactly the nutritive 
ratios of each one of the fodders usually fed to your 
cows, we are printing herewith a table that is official : 

Nutritive Ratio 

Corn Fodder 1 : 14.9 

Mixed Grass and Clover 1: 7.4 

Wheat Bran 1 : 3.7 

Skimmed Milk 1 : 2 

Corn Silage 1 : 14.3 

Gluten Meal 1 : 2.5 

Corn or Cornmeal 1 : 9.7 

Mangles 1: 5.1 

Red Clover Hay 1 : 3.1 

Alfalfa (green) 1: 3.1 

Alfalfa (hay) 1: 3.8 

So that you will not be confused we will state here 
that the figures given above vary slightly from those 
published by other experimental and agricultural uni- 
versities. However, it agrees substantialh^ with all 
those published by the best authorities. 



76 How to Make Creamery Butter on the Farm 

A point to be brought out here is, that you will 
notice that some foods are almost perfectly balanced 
insofar as nutritive ratio is maintained. 

It might be well to explain this point. For exam- 
ple, take clover hay and mangles. The ratio of these 
is a trifle wider than 1:5. It might be best to say 
here that neither one alone is a perfect feed. The 
reason for this is that their bulk is not in proper pro- 
portion to their protein and nutrients. The cows fed 
upon clover hay would have swallowed more than 
enough dry matter without obtaining a sufficient quan- 
tity of nutrient. And again, in eating thirty pounds 
of mangles, the cow would get only 2.7 pounds of dry 
matter and at the same time less than a half pound 
of protein. 

The point to be emphasized here, is that nutritive 
ratio must not be confused with a completed ration. 

The purpose of these instructions in regard to ra- 
tions is that we desire to help all to obtain the ideal 
ration at the lowest cost — to help you see to it that 
the cows get a sufficient quantity of food, containing 
the correct amount of digestible nutrients, together 
with the milk forming elements in their proper pro- 
portion to the heat forming elements. 

Balanced Rations for Milch Cows. 

The trouble with the usual formula for balanced ra- 
tions is that it is not practical for most farmers, as 
they may not have the desired elements on hand. 
The following rations are made up of different mate- 
rials, so as to conform with the feed that you may 
happen to have on your farm. Any one of these ra- 
tions is equally good. The number of pounds stated 



Managing the Dairy Herd 



77 



in each ration is for a day's feed of twenty-four hours 
and is applicable to the average cow weighing from 
900 to 1,200 pounds and giving from 3.6 to 4% milk. 

Pounds 

7. Corn silage 35 

Hay 10 

Corn meal 3 

Wheat bran 4 

Ground oats ^ 

55 

8. Corn silage 40 

Corn stover 8 

Corn meal 2 

Wheat bran 4 

Oil meal 2 



Pounds 

1. Corn silage 35 

Hay 8 

Wheat bran 4 

Ground oats 3 

Oil meal 2 

"52 

2. Corn silage 50 

Corn stalks 10 

Corn meal 2 

Wheat bran 4 

Malt sprouts 3 

Oil meal 1 

3. Corn silage 20 

Corn stalks 10 

Hay 4 

Wheat bran 4 

Gluten meal 3 

Corn cob meal 3 

44 

4. Corn silage 40 

Clover, timothy hay.. 10 

Wheat shorts 3 

Gluten meal 3 

Ground oats 3 

T59 

5. Silage 40 

Clover 10 

Oat feed 4 

Corn meal 3 

Gluten meal 3 

6. Silage 45 

Oat straw 5 

Brewers' grains 4 

Corn stalks 5 

Wheat shorts .__4 

63 



56 

9. Corn silage 20 

Clover, timothy hay.. 15 

Corn meal 3 

Ground oats 3 

Oil meal 2 

Cotton seed meal . . . . 1 

44 

10. Clover silage 25 

Corn stover 10 

Hay 5 

Wlieat shorts 2 

Oats feed 4 

Corn meal 2 

Linseed meal ^_JI. 

"49 

11. Clover silage 30 

Dry fodder 10 

Oat straw 4 

Wheat bran 4 

Malt sprouts 2 

Oil meal 2 

"52 

12. Clover silage 40 

Hay 10 

Roots 20 

Corn meal 4 

Ground oats 4 

Linseed meal ._\^ 

69 



78 How to Make Creamery Butter on the Farm 

Formula for Stock Foods. 

These are the same formulas used in the manufac- 
ture of advertised stock foods for which the farmer 
pays a big price: 

No. 1. Lbs. 

Faenigreek 2 

Allspice 2 

Gentian 4 

Salt 5 

Saltpeter 5 

Epsom salts 10 

Linseed meal 100 

Feed two to three tablespoonfuls to feeding. 

No. 2. Lbs. 

Gentian 8 

Ginger 8 

Faenigreek 8 

Powdered sulphur 8 

Potassium nitrate 2 

Rosin 2 

Cayenne pepper 4 

Linseed meal 44 

Powdered charcoal 20 

Common salt 10 

Wheat bran 100 

Compound, mix, feed one-half cupful to feeding. 

Feeding should be done right after milking time, 
in which case feed flavors largely pass off through 
channels or secretions other than the milk and are not 
so noticeable. However, most dairymen and farm^ers 
understand this, and there is very little milk spoiled 
from this cause. 

The feeding of dairy cows is a very important mat- 
ter. The composition of feeds is an interesting sub- 
ject. Most feeds can and should be grown on the 
farm. 

The idea of feeding dairy cows simply to dispose 
of crops is ruinous. The successful idea nowadays 
is to farm to feed dairy cows. 



Managing the Dairy Herd 79 

The Value of Silos in Solving the Ration Problem. 

Various experts have agreed that corn silage is 
probably the best and cheapest source of succulence. 
There should be a silo on every dairy farm which 
should be used for the purpose of furnishing this valu- 
able necessary milk-making food during the winter 
and the dry months of the summer. Corn, oats and 
barley are splendid for supplying carbohydrates and 
dry matter to the dairy herd. All these can be raised 
almost anywhere. So can clover, alfalfa, sweet clover, 
vetches, cow peas, soy beans and Canada field peas. 
Each of these crops are rich in protein and ash. If 
you will feed hay, made from any of these leguminous 
crops, together with all the corn silage that the cow 
will eat you will find that it will form a balanced ration 
that will be succulent and also that the carbohydrates 
and fats in the corn silage will be balanced by the pro- 
tein and dry matter in the hay. This will form a 
splendid ration for cows giving, say, from fifteen to 
twenty pounds of milk per day. 

If you are living in the corn belt, you will find that 
ground corn and cornmeal is a splendid and a cheap 
concentrated food. This should, in your case, form 
the basis of the ration. Such a ration supplies every- 
thing necessary except the protein, ash and the neces- 
sary variety. It would be well, however, to add such 
additional rations as ground oats, bran, oil meal, dried 
distillers' grains, gluten feed or some other food rich 
in gluten. 

Another very well balanced ration, when fed in con- 
junction with an abundance of corn silage, together 
with any of the leguminous hays, is a mixture of two 
parts of ground corn, one part ground oats and one 



80 How to Make Creamery Butter on the Farm 

part of either one of the commercial by-product pro- 
tein foods. 

The above rations should be supplied to each cow 
at the rate of one pound each day to every pound of 
butterfat that that cow yields each week. 

This is a very inexpensive ration. Furthermore it 
gives the cow exactly what she needs to make the 
most milk, and the greatest percentage of butterfat. 

Right in this connection we might say that there 
is one special time that is best of all for starting the 
bettering of the feeding methods of the dairy herd. 
This time is about four to six weeks before the cow is 
due to freshen. At that time it is best to turn the 
cow dry and then feed her abundantly. It must be 
borne in mind at this time that the greatest profits 
are returned for the feed used in preparing the cow 
for the work that is to come. It is best that the cow 
be as high as possible in flesh at the time she freshens. 
Otherwise too great a percentage of her food will be 
consumed in maintaining her, building up her flesh, 
strengthening her stamina — and not making milk, as 
it should. 

It is at this time that the cow that has been well fed 
with corn silage and roughage that is high in protein 
together with a carefully balanced grain ration yields 
the biggest profit to the dairyman. It is then that he 
begins to pocket the dividends that he has earned by 
his careful handling of the cow in her dry period. 

Aside from the fact that corn silage proves one of 
the best rations for milk cows, it is also one of the 
cheapest. 

Wherever farmers have tried out this method of 



Managing the Dairy Herd 81 

feeding the dairy herd, the economy has been at once 
evident. 

The writer has before him at the present time one 
specific instance of this character. This is the boiled- 
down experience of a farmer in a middle western state 
who has tried out the silage ration system very thor- 
oughly and has found it wonderfully profitable. This 
man built a concrete silo sixty feet in diameter and 
forty feet in height. This silo was filled four times 
from ten acres of drill corn and cow peas. Some com- 
parison of the value of this ten acres of silo corn will 
be of interest. The 200 tons of silage thus obtained 
was equivalent to 70 tons of timothy hay, which, at 
$8 a ton, would be worth $560. This would make his 
silage worth $56 an acre. At one and one-half tons 
to the acre — a large crop for the state in which this 
test was made — it would have required forty-five acres 
to grow the hay thus secured by the silage method. 
To figure it in another way, this ten acres of silage 
was the nutrient equivalent of 1,420 bushels of corn. 
These at sixty cents a bushel would be equal to the 
value of $850, or $85 an acre. It would have required 
thirty-five acres of ground to produce the same amount 
at forty bushels to the acre. 

Then again, this silage crop equaled in value fifty- 
eight tons of bran. As values are now, this would be 
equal to $1,400, or $140 for each acre. 

And to figure it another way, these ten acres of 
silage are equal to forty-five tons of cottonseed meal. 
Cottonseed meal at $30 per ton would equal $1,450, 
or a valuation of $145 an acre for the silage. 

The value of silage to the dairy farmer can hardly 
be overestimated. Silage stores well. It will keep 



82 How to Make Creamery Butter on the Farm 

with less waste than corn or oats in the crib or hay in 
the stack, if it is properly housed. It also keeps longer. 
Furthermore, it is harvested when corn has reached 
the most development. It is harvested when nature 
can put no more into it. It is put away in its own 
juice, when it is so soft that even the cob can be thor- 
oughly masticated and thus digested. 

It is a notable fact that the cows eat silo food eagerly. 

Furthermore, silage corresponds more closely to the 
nature of the cow itself. It is a bulk feed. The cows' 
stomachs are made for grass. And what is the corn 
plant but a great big grass? When it is cut up fine 
for her in the form of silage, it makes the cow's winter 
ration more like her summer grass. 

Whereas concentrated, condensed feeds contract the 
stomach and bring about a radical readjustment in 
the internal cow, silage feed meets the requirements 
of nature itself. Moreover, concentrated feed can be 
fed with great advantage when mixed with the bulkier 
silage. Remember, there is absolutely no waste in 
feeding silage. 

Again, there is no waste in harvesting silage, be- 
cause the stalks, the blades, the grain, the cobs, the tas- 
sels, are all utilized. It forms the best solution of 
the feeding problem during the droughts and the short 
pasture periods of summer. 

The farmer who has a few acres of corn in his silo 
is safeguarded against drought. 

Right in this connection the writer might state that 
from the ten acres of silo corn, above referred to, the 
dairyman fed, from the first of November until the 
grass came, thirty cows and fifteen head of fall calves. 
And from the first of March, twenty head of year- 



Managing the Dairy Herd 83 

lings, and after all that, when grass came, this farmer 
still had four feet of silage left. 

If you will write to the University of Illinois Agri- 
cultural College, at Urbana, and ask for Bulletin No. 
101, you will receive free of charge a valuable and 
instructive bulletin on "Crops for the Silo and Cost 
of Silo Filling." They will also be very glad to send 
you a very comprehensive bulletin covering the main 
facts to be considered in building a silo. This is 
known as Bulletin No. 102. 

Care of the Cows. 

There was a time, not so many years ago either, 
when the farmer or dairyman who cleaned his cows 
was considered over-cleanly, to say the least. Even 
now there are a great many people who never clean 
their cows either before or after milking, or any other 
time. 

But the up-to-date farmers and dairymen, the ones 
who are making the most money out of their herds, 
take just as good care of their cows as they do of 
their horses. 

Saw off the handle of an old broom part way down 
and brush thoroughly with that if you don't have time 
to use a currycomb and brush. You can do a fairly 
good job with the short broom if it is followed up 
with a rag rubbing to pick up the loose dust. In any 
event, don't fail to use a damp cloth to wipe off the 
back of the cow, including the udder. If this is not 
done, some of the dirt from the cow is bound to get 
into the milk pail and that is what you want to avoid. 

Just remember if dirt gets into the milk it is bound 
to leave its flavor there to a greater or lesser extent, 



84 How to Make Creamery Butter on the Farm 

depending on how much gets in. If the milk is fla- 
vored, the butter will be also. 

Dirt and barn odors which get into the milk at 
milking time are one of the chief causes of poor butter ; 

therefore do all you can to avoid them. 

Care of the Stable. 

In order to make the best butter you must start 
with the stable itself. This should be kept as clean 
as possible at all times, and particular care taken to 
clean it and bed down the stalls half an hour or more 
before milking time. If possible the bedding should 
be sprinkled with water to lay the dust. It will not be 
necessary to make it wet; just a slight sprinkling will 
be sufficient. 

When cows are kept in crowded and unclean stables 
with but little fresh air, sanitary milk cannot be ex- 
pected. 

When kept under unsanitary conditions for any 
length of time the animals become unhealthy, and even 
where they themselves are not diseased, the milk as 
soon as drawn absorbs the unclean atmosphere of the 
stable, which readily spoils it for either domestic or 
commercial purposes. 

The liquid and solid excrements of the stable are 
teeming with various fermentive bodies. The air is 
filled with dust particles which contain ferment and 
fermentable substances, and as soon as the milk is 
drawn it is contaminated. 

In order to keep the stable in a wholesome condi- 
tion, a liberal amount of bedding and absorbents 
should be used. In localities where straw cannot be 
obtained, sawdust, shavings, peat and other materials 



Managing the Dairy Herd 85 

are employed. In addition, a small amount of land 
plaster or gypsum will be found valuable for deodor- 
izing the stable. 

Gypsum can be used at the rate of about half a pound 
per day for each animal, and is sprinkled in the stalls 
and trenches. 

Lime in any other form than the sulphate is not suit- 
able for use in stables. Instead of absorbing the odors, 
quick lime and slacked lime decompose the refuse ma- 
terials, producing more odors. Lime sulphate or land 
plaster can usually be procured at about $5 a ton, and 
is, in addition to the deodorizing properties, a valuable 
fertilizer. When added to the manure, it increases its 
value by preventing unnecessary fermentation and loss 
of ammonia. 

A cow is nothing but a very peculiar factory into 
which is taken the raw stuffs and from which she turns 
a highly finished product. Everything she needs to 
make the most output is an important cog in the wheel 
and if omitted she fails to do perfect work. Don't 
forget this. She must have every comfort. She must 
not be exposed. 

The average cow quarters on the general farm are 
too small and poorly lighted to be comfortable for 
cows that are expected to make a profit. The idea 
that anything will do to shelter cows during bad 
weather is wrong. Neither will anything in the way 
of night stabling do during the brisk nights of late 
fall and early spring. While it is advantageous to 
keep cows up during inclement weather and feed in 
the stanchion or stall, it is not a good plan to pamper 
them in weather when sunshine and air will do them 
good. 



86 How to Make Creamery Butter on the Farm 

Health above all things should be perfect in a dairy 
cow. 

Ventilation of Dairy Barns. 

In ventilating dairy barns a great many things must 
be taken into consideration ; location of barn, the gen- 
eral surroundings, height of barn, the number of cows, 
etc. The sizes of intakes and outlets depend on vari- 
ous conditions. No ventilation will work automati- 
cally and it requires good judgment along with proper 
equipment to make ventilation proper and effective. 
The temperature of the dairy barn should be 60° to 65°, 
therefore when the weather is very cold it takes but 
little air circulation to maintain good ventilation and 
still retain the proper heat. There are people who 
have made a study of ventilation for years but still 
come far from the demands of the perfectly ventilated 
dairy barn. All barns should be equipped with some 
kind of ventilation. The placing of canvas over the 
top of windows and a heavy strip of canvas on the bot- 
tom of the same window, will help to ventilate as the 
foul air will pass off through the canvas at the top and 
the fresh air will pass through the bottom. The can- 
vas will break the wind which causes the draught. 
When too much air is let in and taken out of the dairy 
barn in cold weather it causes the heat from the cow 
to congeal and the walls become damp and drops of 
water form on the sides and ceiling. When installing 
galvanized pipes in barns for intakes and outlets, great 
care should be taken so these can be closed off or partly 
closed when conditions require it, and also installed 
where they will not come in contact with cold, as the 
damp air passing through will freeze and cause trouble. 



Managing the Dairy Herd 87 

It is useless to try and ventilate a poorly built, cold 
barn. It is impossible to ventilate to any satisfaction 
without a certain degree of heat. There are companies 
who make a specialty of ventilation. They publish 
books that are useful and instructive to anyone who 
may desire this information. The King system is 
recognized as being the best and most efficient. 

Proper Treatment for Cow Consumption or Tuber- 
culosis. 

The seriousness of this plague can be best under- 
stood when it is explained that it causes the loss of 
$15,000,000 yearly to dairymen and that today ten 
per cent of dairy stock is infected. It might be well 
to here state that the chief source of the spread of the 
disease is the buying and selling of cattle already 
infected. 

However, it is not our purpose here to dilate upon 
the spread of this disease, but rather to suggest means 
that have been found effective in protecting the cattle 
not already infected. 

Dr. A. S. Alexander, professor of veterinary science, 
University of Wisconsin, advises all dairymen to use 
only healthy sires and dams in stock breeding. He 
advises each dairyman to allow each cow or bull not 
less than 600 to 800 feet of air space and not less than 
four square feet of window glass lighting space in 
the stable. This stable must be perfectly ventilated. 
The stable must be cleaned daily and manure hauled 
away each day. By this you prevent germs, obnoxious 
gases and flies. The drinking water provided must be 
pure and uncontaminated. Care in food and regularity 
in feeding must be exercised. Milking must be done 
in regular hours and must be absolutely sanitary. 



88 How to Make Creamery Butter on the Farm 

The first step in prevention is to quarantine all 
newly bought animals until they are proven to be abso- 
lutely sound and free from any symptoms of tuber- 
culosis. The tuberculin test will ascertain this fact. 
We advise you to write to your state agricultural col- 
lege and get its advice on this subject. 

In addition to testing the newly bought cattle it is 
wise to test the entire herd once or twice each year, 
and if any animal is found infected that animal should 
be isolated. One wise precaution is never to use the 
neighbor's cows. Experts advise the free use of dis- 
infectants. Use them often in the gutters and on the 
stall floors. It is also wise to whitewash the stable 
at least twice a year. 

In the case of feeding calves or hogs, it is best to 
sterilize all milk before feeding, unless you absolutely 
know that it comes from cattle that are free from this 
disease. Milk can be easily sterilized by simply heat- 
ing it to 190 degrees Fahrenheit*. It is never safe to 
feed skimmed milk from a creamery. Feed your own 
skimmed milk before it ever leaves the farm. 

Here are some of the symptoms by which you can 
detect tuberculosis: 

Tuberculosis germs affect the lymph glands and 
cause the appearance of small or large tubercles, which 
contain pus, gray substance or cheesy or gritty ma- 
terial. 

One of the first symptoms is a cough. Noisy breath- 
ing and cough quite frequently denote tuberculosis 
that is affecting and enlarging the glands of the throat. 
Tuberculosis may affect the bones, joints, muscles or 
skin. One of the effects of tuberculosis is pressure 



Managing the Dairy Herd 89 

upon the gullet, which will give rise to chronic bloat- 
ing. 

The most common seat of this disease is the udder. 
Animals affected with tuberculosis gradually pine 
away, that is, if they are suffering from what is known 
as acute or open tuberculosis. They may live in- 
definitely if afflicted with sub-acute or closed tuber- 
culosis. 

If you have any doubts about your own cattle, it 
will be best to write to your state agricultural college. 
They will be able to help you to relieve the cause and 
to cure and prevent the spread of this disease. They 
will also be able to post you on the proper methods of 
stable ventilation. In this connection we might sug- 
gest that you write to the University of Wisconsin 
Agricultural Experiment Station and ask for Bulletin 
No. 23 on "Bovine Tuberculosis." 



CHAPTER XVI. 

A Plan that wUl Add $13 to $24 to Your 
Profits from Each Cow Each Year 

THE milk that your cows yield should put two 
different and distinct profits into your pocket. 
One is the profit that you will obtain from 
the butter made in your Minnetonna Home Creamery. 
The other is derived from feeding the skim milk to the 
calves, and the buttermilk to the pigs. 

You lose money if you let your calves have the whole 
milk. For by doing so you cheat yourself out of the 
butterfat. That butterfat does nothing other than 
make the calves warmer and fatter. It does not make 
them grow. 

You can use cornmeal, oil meal or flaxseed meal and 
either one of the three will furnish the calves with 
heat and fat just as well as the butterfat, and either 
will cost you but little more than one cent per pound. 

Why should you feed the calves whole milk con- 
taining thirty-cent butterfat when your neighbors are 
raising just as good calves on skim milk and one- 
cent meal? 

Skim milk possesses all the food elements necessary 
to make bone, blood, muscle, nerves, hair, skin, teeth, 
hoofs and horns. All that skim milk lacks is fat, and 
a calf raised on skim milk plus meal gets the neces- 
sary heat and fat-making elements from the meal. 

90 



A Plan That Will Add to Your Profits 91 

This is not theory. 

The experiment station of one of our largest state 
agricultural universities found, after exhaustive ex- 
periments, that calves that were fed on skim milk 
plus meal, actually showed an increase in weight on 
the nominal cost of two and one-half cents per pound. 
At the same time experiments were made upon calves 
fed upon whole milk and it was discovered that the 
cost per pound of gain was seven cents ! 

The average calf weighs eighty pounds at birth. 
As a rule it is vealed at an age of six weeks. The 
average weight at that time is 175 pounds. This 
shows a gain of ninety-five pounds. 

If calves are fed on skim milk plus meal that ninety- 
five pounds gain is made at a cost of only two and 
one-quarter cents per pound or a total of less than 
$2.14 per calf. 

Raise the calf on whole milk and this ninety-five 
pounds gain will cost you at least seven cents per 
pound; that is a total of $6.65 per calf. 

Why not pocket this difference of $4.51? 

By the foregoing we do not want you to get the im- 
pression that we do not advocate the policy of the calf 
receiving whole or part whole milk for the first few 
days. 

This does not reduce the profit the dairyman re- 
ceives from that cow, because the milk for the first 
two or three or four days from a fresh cow is not suit- 
able for human use, anyway, and must be fed to calves 
or hogs in any event. At this period the calves thrive 
nicely on as little as ninety pounds of whole milk. 

Feed the calves the skimmed milk while it is still 
warm from the cow. In this way the best results will 



92 How to Make Creamery Butter on the Farm 

be realized. This is one reason why skimmed milk 
brought back from the creamery is not satisfactory. 
It is then cold and naturally sour. It is also apt to 
be mixed with rinse water and also contaminated with 
germs of various diseases from the milk of other herds. 
Here we have another argument why you should make 
your butter at home. 

It might be well in this connection to quote from 
an authority on this subject of giving milk to calves. 
Our authority in this instance is the Wisconsin Agri- 
cultural Experiment Station, located at Madison. In 
its Bulletin No. 192, which you may obtain free by 
writing to the Experiment Station, it is claimed: 
''When a calf is weaned from its mother, let it go eight- 
een to twenty-four hours without milk in order to 
have it hungry for its first meal from the pail. The 
feeder should realize that instinct compels the calf to 
look up for its feed and he must change this by teach- 
ing the calf to look down. Some calves are taught to 
drink from the pails at the first trial with little or no 
sucking of the finger. Others will require much more 
persistent effort, and considerable patience and com- 
mon sense are required. The calf will respond to 
kindness, although stubborn at first, and the feeder 
who will put himself in sympathy with calf nature 
will find that the stubbornness of the calf may soon be 
overcome. In regard to the amount of milk fed, the 
normal calf should be given about four pounds — two 
quarts — of whole milk three times each day, sweet and 
at blood temperature." 

The following record has been successfully used as 
a guide: 



A Plan That Will Add to Your Profits 93 

"For the first 100 pounds of live weight ten pounds 
of skimmed milk each day. 

"For the second 100 pounds of live weight, five 
pounds of skimmed milk per day. 

"For the third 100 pounds of live weight two and 
one-half pounds of skimmed milk per day. 

"You should use your own discretion as to how 
long to feed whole milk, but do not continue it longer 
than necessary. Change the calf to skimmed milk 
very gradually. A wise plan is to first substitute one 
pint of skimmed milk for one pint of whole milk and 
gradually decrease the whole milk and increase the 
skimmed milk until the calf is getting all skimmed 
milk. Be sure that the skimmed milk is always sweet 
and always clean and always at body heat." 

We again quote from Bulletin No. 192: 

"A calf weighing eighty pounds would be fed ac- 
cording to this plan eight and one-half pounds — one 
gallon — of skimmed milk per day ; a calf weighing 300 
pounds will be getting a little over seventeen pounds — 
two gallons — per day. If skimmed milk is available it 
can be fed profitably to the dairy calf six to eight 
months or even a year." 

When you change the calves to skimmed milk they 
must be given some substitute for butterfat. Ground 
flaxseed made into a jelly and fed with the milk is 
soothing and makes an excellent substitute for the 
butterfat until the calf is three or four weeks old. At 
that time it should be able to eat ordinary farm grains. 
Corn and oats then given in sufficient quantities will 
prove an excellent substitute for butterfat. Again 
we have found that calves will quite frequently learn 
to eat the grain more readily if a little bran is intro- 



94 How to Make Creamery Butter on the Farm 

duced into the ration. You can easily teach the calf 
to eat grain by rubbing a little of it on his nose when 
it is through drinking milk. It will quickly learn to 
eat from the feed box if this method is employed. 
When the calf is fed skimmed milk there is little 
danger of its eating too much grain. In this con- 
nection it must be remembered young calves show 
greater gain where grain is consumed than the older 
calves. This is an additional reason for giving them 
all they can eat. It is a mistake to limit the grain 
ration, because this means a loss in gain and a loss in 
profit. The calf from four to six weeks old is pos- 
sessed of a good set of grinder teeth and is able to 
obtain excellent results with a grain ration at that 
time. 

We know a number of breeders who have obtained 
splendid results by feeding calves on whole oats. 
When fed shelled corn or corn cobs, calves seem to do 
better and are less subject to scours. 

It is best to grind grain that is small and hard. 
A mixture of two or three grains rather than just one 
grain is best whenever it is possible. Do not mix 
the grain with the milk. This is because the calf 
should properly masticate the food. The calf should 
chew it well and not gulp it down, for the starchy 
matter of the feed is acted upon by the saliva. Many 
who have taken this precaution tell us that it prevents 
scours. 

When calves are two or three weeks of age they 
will eat roughage. At that time they will consume 
about the same quantity of roughage that they will 
of grain. 

A warning to be given here is that against sud- 



A Plan That Will Add to Your Profits 95 

den changes in feeding. Such changes are sometimes 
dangerous. 

Give the calves all the good, clean water they can 
consume, but do not mix it with the milk when feed- 
ing the calves. 

Be sure to feed calves the same time each day with 
the same quantity and the same quality of milk. This 
helps to maintain a healthy condition. Be warned 
against overfeeding on milk, also the feeding of milk 
that is either cold or sour or the feeding of milk sweet 
one meal and then sour the next. Feeding of this 
sort is frequently the cause of scours. 

Calves should be provided with a dry pen. The 
pen should be warm and well ventilated in winter and 
also cool in summer. The calf is very sensitive to its 
environment and the dairyman who pays attention to 
the calves' environment will find it an extremely prof- 
itable precaution. 

At the first sign of scours, cut down the supply of 
milk. You should also dose the calf with a couple of 
teaspoonfuls of castor oil in scalded milk. If the scours 
persist it might be well to try the use of sterilized 
dried blood or blood meal. Mild cases of scours are 
usually cured in one or two days by simply reducing 
the regular feed of milk and giving each calf a tea- 
spoonful of dried blood at each meal. If the scours 
prove chronic you should give each calf a tablespoon- 
ful of dried blood at each meal. Always mix the dried 
blood or meal with the milk at the time of feeding. 

How to Estimate Weight of Cattle. 

To estimate the weight of live cattle or carcasses 
undressed. First measure in inches the oirth behind 



96 Hoiv to Make Creamery Butter on the Farm 

the shoulders. Next the length from the front part 
or front of the shoulder blade along the back to the 
bone at the tail in a vertical line with the buttocks. 
Multiply the girth in inches by the length in inches 
and divide this product by 144. This will give the 
number of superficial feet. 

If the girth of the animal is from 3 to 5 feet multi- 
ply the number of superficial feet by 16; the result 
will be the animal's weight. If the girth is from 5 to 7 
feet, multiply by 23; if from 7 to 9 feet, multiply by 
31. If less than 3 feet, as in case of calves, multiply 
by 11. Of course individual animals will vary slight- 
ly but this will give approximate results. Or for a 
short method, multiply the square of the animal's 
girth by 17.5 which will give the weight of the animal 
within a few pounds. 



